Randolph County Post 45’s Grat Dalton reaches for the plate but is tagged out by Cleveland County Post 82 catcher Hagan Hoyle. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
ASHEBORO – Randolph County Post 45 won all three games it completed in its first games this year at McCrary Park in Asheboro.
The weekend victories against three different opponents pushed Post 45’s record to 14-1.
With stadium renovations incomplete, the Randolph County team played road games or at Randleman High School in the first few weeks of the season. Then games early last week were rained out.
The three-day event at McCrary Park began with a game with Morgantown (W.Va.) Post 2 suspended by lightning Friday night with Post 45 up 4-0 in the third inning. The game ended up being cancelled.
Post 45 defeated Cleveland County Post 82 by 4-1 with Samuel Asbill logging six innings and Tanner Marsh finishing on the mound in Saturday’s first game. Marsh doubled twice and drove in two runs.
The dramatics came against St. Mary’s (Md.) Post 255 on Saturday night. Braylen Hayes hit a game-winning three-run home run to complete a comeback to lift Post 45 to a 7-4 victory.
Post 45 rallied from a 4-1 deficit. The four-run seventh included Hunter Atkins driving in the tying run. Robert Garner was the winning pitcher with three innings of no-hit relief.
On Sunday, Hayes knocked in three runs in a 14-5 triumph against Morgantown. Connor Adams was the winning pitcher. Hayes, Marsh, Atkins, Pierce Leonard and Josh Meadows were all credited with two hits.
