Randolph County Post 45 team members gather around manager Ronnie Pugh following a road victory against Liberty Post 81. (Randolph Record)
RAMSEUR — The last week of the regular season went just about perfect for Randolph County Post 45 in American Legion baseball.
Post 45 won three games in three nights in wrapping up the Area 3 North Division II.
“It seems like all the bats are getting hot right when we need them to be hot with playoffs coming up,” Post 45 third baseman Zack Scruggs said.
The Area 3 playoffs begin this weekend. Post 45 will open in a best-of-3 series against Chatham County Post 305.
Randolph County manager Ronnie Pugh’s team notched a 9-1 record in divisional play and an 18-4 record overall.
Post 45 was involved in a couple of must-win games during the week.
The stretch began with Tuesday night’s 9-2 victory against Liberty Post 81 at Eastern Randolph High School. Randolph County pitcher Jake Riddle used 82 pitches in throwing a complete game.
“That was the first time I’ve gone the whole game (for seven innings),” Riddle said. “I’ve been telling Coach Pugh I want to go the complete game.”
A Post 81 victory would have given Liberty at least a share of first place in the division. Post 45 won all four regular-season meetings, including a pair that didn’t count in the divisional standings.
Post 81’s Mark King matched Riddle through four innings. Then Post 45 produced four fifth-inning runs, sparked by Grat Dalton’s double. Cohen Caviness, Ethan Willard and Caleb Coggins all had hits on run-scoring plays, while Scruggs provided a sacrifice fly.
“I knew they were going to come through,” Riddle said of the offense.
Post 81 manager Nate Cockman said Post 45’s patience paid off.
“They ran Mark’s pitch count up,” he said. “They make you pay for it by the end of games.”
Post 81 had a chance in the second inning when Chance Holdaway led off with a double. He was stranded at third base.
King’s two-run double in the fifth closed the gap to 4-2.
Post 45 put it away with a five-run seventh against Liberty relievers, with doubles by Willard and Jackson Hill among the hits.
The defense was solid behind Riddle, with Willard, the shortstop, initiating a pair of double plays. Center fielder Carter Brown made a diving catch in the seventh.
Post 45 keeps cruising
Next, Post 45 had a road game against Hamlet Post 49, with the outcome determining the No. 1 seed in the division for the postseason.
Randolph County broke a tie with five fifth-inning runs on the way to an 8-3 triumph. Scruggs had three runs batted in, Riddle had three hits and knocked in two runs and Coggins scored two runs.
Post 45 used four pitchers, beginning with Lincoln Coble going four innings and giving up one run.
In Thursday night’s regular-season finale, Post 45 defeated visiting Chatham County 5-0. Parker Kines pitched the first five innings and Drew Harmon and Sean Jennison completed the five-hitter.
The playoff series between the teams will begin Saturday night at Jordan-Matthews High School with Chatham County as host, with the remainder of the series at McCrary Park.
First-round series
Liberty and Hamlet finished tied for second place with 7-3 divisional records.
They’ll meet in the first round of the playoffs, with Game 1 on Saturday at Hamlet, Game 2 on Sunday at Eastern Randolph and, if necessary, Game 3 back at Hamlet.
