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| There are 241 News Items in 25 pages and your are on page number 1 |
| P-15's rip Florence |
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Sumter wins 15-1, clinches League III
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Keith Gedamke / The Item
Sumter's Travis Witherspoon dives back into first base as Florence Post 1 first baseman Spencer Jordan awaits the pickoff throw. Sumter won 15-1. |
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By EDDIE LITAKER
Special to The Item
For the second consecutive night, Sumter's American Legion baseball team put on an impressive offensive fireworks display for its fans. This time, the prize for the P-15's was the League III championship.
Sumter followed up Thursday's 21-1 shellacking of Camden with a workmanlike 15-1 thumping of Florence, clinching the League III championship in the process.
"Remember that Florence has only lost four times. We're the only team they've lost to and they've swept the league the rest of the way, and probably will continue (to do) so," Sumter head coach Wallie Jones said of his team's latest triumph over the 10-4 Post 1 squad. "I think they're an excellent ball club. We just happened to hit everything right, and everything we hit was in between them. We got a lot of breaks and then we got a great pitcher on the mound. You put those factors together and we come out with a convincing win."
The P-15's closed with 17 hits in support of a superb pitching effort from Tyler Christman, who retired the last 15 batters he faced in order after Spencer Jordan hit into a 6-4-3-double play to end the Florence second. Justin Green singled to left just ahead of Jordan for Post 1's only hit as Christman struck out nine and did not walk a single batter.
"He was wonderful tonight. He's just a quality pitcher, and the thing I like the most about it (was) he did it with not many pitches," Jones said of Christman's effort. "He didn't throw but 80 pitches or 82 pitches in seven innings and that's awful good, and that means he's going to be able to throw a 9-inning game and have plenty left. That's what we're trying to convince all of our pitchers (of), that we've got to keep that pitch count low."
Friday's game had a subplot – a red cell storm that was potentially bearing down on the Sumter area. The first concern was getting five innings in to make the game official. Once that happened, Florence felt a storm of its own in the bottom of the fifth as Sumter, already leading 7-1, sent 14 batters to the plate and scored eight runs on seven hits. Among those hits were a bases-clearing double by Bruce Caldwell, who also scored three runs to accompany his three runs batted in, and a run-scoring triple by Matt Talley.
Matt Price and Travis Witherspoon both launched 2-run home runs over the Riley Park fence. Price finished 3-for-4 with a walk, two runs and four RBI while Witherspoon was a perfect 4-for-4 with a walk, three runs scored and three RBI.
(full story)
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| Sumter routs Camden 21-1 |
Friday, July 04, 2008
By DENNIS BRUNSON
Item Sports Editor
dennisb@theitem.com
For those who arrived — saaay —an hour late to Riley Park for Thursday's American Legion baseball game between Sumter and Camden, they only missed one inning. However, the game was pretty much over at that point.
The P-15's pushed across nine runs in the top of the first inning, sending 14 batters to the plate in the process, and cruised to a 21-1 victory and moved a step closer to wrapping up the League III title.
"We went out there and put up those runs and took control of the game from the beginning," said Sumter head coach Wallie Jones, whose team improved to improved to 15-1 on the season and 12-1 in league play. "It's just hard for Camden to fight and battle back after all those runs."
The P-15's picked up five hits in the 9-run first off of the combined efforts of Post 17 starting pitcher Stephen Boneparte and reliever Jacob Norris. However, Boneparte and Norris also combined to walk five, hit a batter and throw three wild pitches while catcher Alston Barnes was charged with two passed balls and Boneparte threw a ball away trying to pick a runner off of first base for an error.
Bruce Caldwell had an RBI single in his first at-bat and a 2-run single in his second appearance of the inning. Tony Micklon and Quentrell Nelson also had run-scoring hits in the inning.
The onslaught continued throughout the rest of the game. The P-15's finished with 16 hits while four Camden pitchers walked 13 more and hit three batters. Also, Camden had eight wild pitches, two passed balls and committed three errors.
"You can't expect to win when you give them all of those walks," said Camden head coach Dave Roberts, whose team dropped to 3-11. "We went out last night against Cheraw (in a 14-2 win) and hit the ball, played good defense and pitched good. We didn't do that tonight and you can't win when you're walking people."
The top four batters in the Sumter order — Nelson, Travis Witherspoon, Caldwell and Matt Price — each had six plate appearances.
Sumter added five more runs in the fourth. Witherspoon had an RBI triple and Caldwell followed with his third straight run-scoring single to chase Norris from the game. Price greeted new pitcher Jon Jon Belote by sending his first pitch over the left-center field wall for a 2-run home run to make it 13-1. Micklon later scored on a Michael Blackmon ground out.
The P-15's pushed across four more in the fourth to go up 18-1. Samuel Key and Josh Hayden had RBI singles and Micklon added a sacrifice fly.
"The good thing is we kept swinging the bats and putting up runs," Jones said. "A lot of times when you jump on someone like that you have a tendency to stop scoring. We didn't tonight."
Tyler Smith was the beneficiary of the Sumter offense. The tall right-hander started on the mound for Sumter and gave up three hits in five innings of work. He struck out two and walked three while hitting two batters. Tyler Broome worked two scoreless innings to close out the game.
"Smith did well enough to get a win tonight," Jones said. "He threw 91 pitches, so we need him to cut down on his pitch count. Broome came in and gave us two good innings."
Caldwell finished 4-for-6 with five RBI while Nelson was 2-for-3 with five runs scored, two RBI and three walks. Price, Micklon, Key and Hayden each had two hits.
Sumter plays host to Florence today at Riley Park beginning at 7:30 p.m. Florence is 10-3 in league play after beating Cheraw 17-2 on Thursday. If the P-15's win today, they will win the league title outright and secure the No.1 seed from the league in the state playoffs. Sumter will start right-hander Tyler Christman with Price in first relief.
"We hope Tyler will continue to pitch the way he's been pitching," Jones said. "He's pitching the best baseball of his career.
Post 15 will honor military veterans and active military with a pregame ceremony scheduled to begin today at 7:15 p.m.
(full story)
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| P-15 pitching coach excited about starting trio |
Thursday, July 03, 2008
By Tom O’Hare
Sumter Herald Sports Writer
In ancient Rome there was Ceasar, Pompey and Crassus, followed a few years later by Octavian, Marc Antony and Lepidus. Those two groups of three men that once gained control of Rome are labeled in the history books as The First Triumvirate and The Second Triumvirate.
Fans of classic comedy are well familiar with Larry, Moe, and Curly: The Three Stooges.
There's Three Blind Mice, Three Men In a Tub and according to Sigmund Freud, human behavior is dictated by the three subconscious forces of our id, ego and superego.
In Boston, the trio of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pearce and Sumter's Ray Allen led the Celtics to an NBA championship.
And now in Sumter, a new combination of three intertwined forces has arrived, Matt Price, Tyler Christman and Matt Talley. They are the starting pitching staff for the P-15's this season and for pitching coach Jim Hoshour, he cannot think of a better collection of hurlers he has had to work with.
"As a group, this is the best staff of starters that we've had since I've been here," said Hoshour.
That's saying a lot. Hoshour has been with the P-15's for 22 years, and some of his former pupils include Lee Hatfield, Billy Sylvester, Chad Hoshour (his son), Curtis Johnson and Nic Touchstone. But the early season stats back Hoshour up. Halfway through the 2008 campaign, Talley is 2-0 and has yet to give up an earned run. Christman is 2-0 and has an ERA of 1.06. Price is 1-1, the loss coming in a rain-shortened 3-2 loss against Bishopville during which all three of Bishopville's runs were unearned. Opponents are batting .102 against Talley, .158 against Christman and .191 against Price.
"There's been some years where we have had maybe two pitchers that could stack up with these three. The first pair that comes to mind is when we had Hatfield and (Chad) Hoshour," Jim Hoshour explained. "But we've never had three guys together in the same season as good as these three."
While each of this year's three strong arms brings a dominating presence and a giddy-up fastball to the mound, Hoshour insists that each has their own distinct pitching style.
"The thing about Price is that he can come at you from all kind of different angles," said Hoshour. "He can drop down and go side arm after he comes over the top and throws a fastball. The batters are never sure what to expect from him."
(full story)
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| P-15's whip Cheraw 18-6 |
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
From Staff reports
CHERAW - The Sumter P-15's moved a step closer to wrapping up the American Legion baseball League III title with an 18-6 victory over Cheraw Post 29 on Tuesday at the Cheraw Braves Field.
The game was called after seven innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.
Sumter, which is 14-1 overall, improved to 11-1 in league play. The P-15's own a 2 game lead over 9-3 Florence, which beat Bishopville 14-6 on Tuesday. Sumter can wrap up the title with any combination of two Sumter wins or Post 1 losses. Sumter can wrap up the title this week with home wins over Camden on Thursday and Florence on Friday.
Sumter pounded out 16 hits against Cheraw, including three home runs. Two of them came from Matt Price and Tony Micklon also had one.
Sumter made the most of the hits, leaving only four runners on base. "It seemed like we had the bases loaded, base loaded, but evidently we got just about everybody in," said Sumter head coach Wallie Jones. "So that's a good thing."
Sumter took a 13-6 lead into the seventh inning when it loaded the bases with no outs. It looked as though Post 29 might get out of the inning without any runs when Caldwell hit into a filder's choice and Price popped out on the infield. However, Micklon, who was 2-for-4 with five runs batted in, came through with a run-scoring single to make it 14-6. Tyler Smith followed with a 2-run double and Samuel Key had a 2-run single to make it 18-6.
Price was 3-for-4 with three RBI.
Justin Cromer started on the mound and worked 4 2/3 innings. Jordan Montgomery picked up the win working the final 2 1/3 innings. Cheraw picked up 13 hits.
Jones wasn't happy with his pitching.
"If we were playing in a regional or the state finals, I don't think we would have won." Jones said. "We can't afford to give up that many runs." (full story)
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| P-15's sweep tourney |
Sunday, June 29, 2008
By TREVOR ZION BAUKNIGHT
Item Sports Writer
TBauknight@theitem.com
WILMINGTON, N.C. -- The Sumter American Legion P-15's steamrolled their way through Saturday's doubleheader in the 2008 North Carolina-South Carolina American Legion Baseball Challenge at Legion Field in Wilmington, N.C. The P-15's got a pair of fine pitching performances from Matt Talley and Tyler Christman and held off Morehead City, N.C., 9-1 in Game 1 and defeading N.C. state champion Cherryville 2-0 in Game 2 to go 3-0 in the tournament.
"It was just an excellent ball game from Tyler Christman," said Sumter head coach Wallie Jones. "It's been many years since we've seen complete domination like that. His pitch count was low-he only had 65 pitches going into the last inning and he could have pitched two more innings. His fastball was there all day. This was a very good team that he beat.
"He just had his hammer with his fastball, threw them a couple of changes to keep them off-balance and we played decently defensively - it was just an outstanding performanced for all of us." Jones added. "I'm really proud of the way we played."
Sumter and Cherryville went six scoreless innings before Tony Micklon came through in the top of the seventh with a solo home run over the left field wall. The P-15's got an insurance run later in the inning when Matt Talley singled, reached third base on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Robert Benenhaley.
Micklon had a big day overall. going 5-for-7 with six runs batted in, in the two games, including two doubles and a home run and just missed out on a home run earlier in Game 2 when what would have been a 2-run blast in the fourth drifted just outside the leftfield foul pole.
"I had a good angle on it," said Jones. "It was fair going over the pole by about five feet and then it landed foul. It went a good bit over the fence and when it hit foul, (the umpire) called it foul. You know, what are you going to do? That second run, that was like five runs," Jones said of Benenhaley's RBI sacrifice bunt that scored TAlley. "We can get one, but when you get that second one, it changes the whole dynamics of it. Robert did a good job with it - we just excuted it perfectly."
Two runs were all the runs Sumter needed with Christman giving an overwhelming performance on the mound against Cherryville. Christman went the distance for the win, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out nine in seven innings of work.
In the first game, the P-15's went to work on Morehead City starting pitcher Kurt Palmer right away in the first, taking a 3-run lead on a 2-RBI double by Tony Micklon, the first of two by the hard-hitting designated hitter. Bruce Caldwell smacked a 2-out ground-rule double and Matt Price drew a walk before Michael Blackman singled in Caldwell to make it 1-0. Micklon's line drive caromed off the leftfield fence and plated Blackman and Price to give Talley a cushion.
(full story)
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| P-15's steal 6-2 victory over Wilmington |
Saturday, June 28, 2008
By TREVOR ZION BAUKNIGHT
Item Sports Writer
TBauknight@theitem.com
WILMINGTON, N.C. — The Sumter American Legion P-15's made quick work of Wilmington, N.C., Post 10, the host team of the North Carolina-South Carolina American Legion Baseball Challenge, on Friday at the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Brooks Field.
Sumter improved to 11-1 with the win.
Right-handed pitcher Matt Price picked up the win Friday, improving to 2-1 on the season with an 8-strikeout performance as he went the full seven innings for Sumter. Price gave up only two runs, neither of them earned, and walked none. He retired the Wilmington side in order in four of his seven innings and pitched his way through four infield errors by the P-15's.
"We got a good job out of Matt," said Sumter head coach Wallie Jones. "He threw 100 pitches, he didn't walk anybody, and I believe that if we had caught the ball behind him, (Wilmington) wouldn't have scored any. He had a good day."
Wilmington starter Andrew Kelly suffered the loss, giving up six runs on nine hits and three walks while striking out four.
Sumter's Quentrell Nelson, on fire at the plate since struggling in his first three ball games, did nothing to hurt his .436 batting average and killed Post 10 on the basepaths. Nelson was 3-for-3 with three runs scored, a run batted in, a walk and four stolen bases. Three of those stolen bases scored the P-15's final run after Nelson got a 1-out single. He stole second, third and home while Wilmington catcher Nick Malter trotted to the mound for a conference without calling time.
Travis Witherspoon was 1-for-3 with a run scored and three stolen bases of his own, as the pair was able to run almost at will on Kelly.
"We just kind of watched the game to see if we could find out what they were going to give us," Jones said. "We knew (from watching Kelly in the bullpen) that if he threw from the stretch, like he threw in the game, that we could go on his first move and beat the throw, and it worked out that way. Then when he changed his motion a little bit, he wasn't as good and didn't throw as many strikes, so it kind of took him out of his game. He stayed with the high leg kick at second, and most of us ought to be able to steal third with a high leg kick like that and a decent lead.
"We moved around the bases pretty well," Jones said. "We did have a couple of baserunning mistakes, and we've got to do a lot better on that."
Nelson's stolen run added insult to injury and made the final margin 6-2, and Wilmington went away quietly with Price fanning three batters in the final two innings.
Robert Benenhaley was 1-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Price and Bruce Caldwell were each 1-for-3 with an RBI.
(full story)
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| P-15's survive Cheraw |
Thursday, June 26, 2008
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Keith Gedamke / The Item
Sumter first baseman Matt Talley awaits a pickoff throw from pitcher Tyler Smith as Cheraw's Brandon Chapman dives back into the bag in Sumter's 9-7 win on Wednesday. |
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By DENNIS BRUNSON
Item Sports Editor
dennisb@theitem.com
Having rolled to a pair of 7-inning victories over Cheraw Post 29 in their first two American Legion baseball League III meetings, another easy victory appeared likely for the league-leading Sumter P-15's when they met cellar-dwelling Cheraw on Wednesday at Riley Park.
It was anything but easy.
Sumter trailed most of the game before opening a 4-run lead only to see Post 29 tie in the top of the eighth inning. The P-15's, however, scored twice in the bottom of the eighth and held on for a 9-7 victory.
"We're happy to get out of here with the win," said Sumter head coach Wallie Jones, whose team improved to 10-1 on the season while Post 29 fell to 1-8. "Cheraw battled us, but we did what we had to do to win the game."
Jones didn't think his team took the game for granted, what with the P-15's traveling to Wilmington, N.C., this weekend to play in a tournament against three North Carolina teams.
"I thought we hit the ball pretty good throughout the game. We didn't have a lot of strikeouts and we weren't hitting a lot of fly balls," said Jones, whose squad had just one strikeout. "We were hitting the ball well; we were just hitting it right at people."
Sumter had just one hit through the first five innings, but still scored two runs thanks to four Post 29 errors. Still, Cheraw led 3-2 through 6½ innings behind the pitching of Brandon Chapman. When Michael Blackmon led off the Sumter half of the seventh with a single, Cheraw head coach Andy Poole decided to bring in Preston Keith in place of Chapman.
Keith, who limited Sumter to one run through the first five innings of Sumter's 12-0 win in their first meeting, didn't fool the P-15's for long on Wednesday. Bruce Caldwell's 2-out, 2-run single made it 4-3 and Tony Micklon followed with a 2-run double to make it 6-3. Micklon scored Sumter's final run on a double steal to make it 7-3.
Bruce had a big hit for us that inning and we had some other big hits as well," Jones said. "We did what we had to do to win the game."
(full story)
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| Sumter topples Florence Post 1 |
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
From staff reports
FLORENCE — After seeing their 26-game winning streak in League III snapped with a 3-2 American Legion baseball loss to Bishopville on Friday and allowing Florence Post 1 to creep back into the League III race, the Sumter P-15’s regained control on Monday.
Sumter handed Florence its third league loss of the season — all against the P-15’s — with a 9-5 win at the West Florence High School field. Sumter improved to 9-1 on the season, opening a 3-game lead on Florence, which fell to 5-3.
“The win tonight gave us the tiebreaker (against Florence for first place),” said P-15’s head coach Wallie Jones. “If we end up tied (for first with Florence), we’re the No.1 seed. There are a lot of games still left to play.”
Left-handed pitcher Matt Talley picked up the win for Sumter, allowing just two runs in seven innings of work. The runs came on leadoff home runs by Spencer Jordan and Patrick Mincey. Jordan’s came in the second inning and Mincey’s in the sixth.
Talley wasn’t as sharp as he has been, walking five batters while striking out nine along with allowing five hits. Post 1 left nine runners on base against Talley, six of them in scoring position. Florence left the bases loaded in the first and left runners on second and third in the fourth and sixth innings.
“He didn’t have his best stuff tonight,” Jones said of Talley. “He got out of that first inning without any trouble. He battled for us and we needed to get that out of him.”
Sumter got on the board in the top of the second inning. Matt Price walked to lead off the inning, went to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. He scored on Tony Mickon’s infield single.
Post 1 tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Jordan led off with a home run. Sumter quickly got the lead back in the third as Josh Hayden led off with a homer off of Florence starting pitcher Andrew Turner. It was Hayden’s third homer of the season in just four hits.
The P-15’s added two more runs in the inning with Quentrell Nelson scoring on a Bruce Caldwell ground out and Robert Benenhaley scoring on a passed ball.
Sumter broke the game open in the sixth with four runs. Price led off with his fifth homer of the sesaon. The P-15’s other runs came in on an RBI single by Hayden and a 2-run single by Nelson to make it 8-1.
(full story)
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| Sumter's streak ends |
Saturday, June 21, 2008
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Mark Morgan / The Item
Bishopville pitcher J-Mac Easterling delivers a pitch during Post 29's 3-2 victory over Sumter on Friday at Riley Park. The game ended in the sixth inning when it was called because of rain. |
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By TREVOR ZION BAUKNIGHT
Item Sports Writer
TBauknight@theitem.com
Mother nature had it in for the Sumter American Legion P-15's on Friday at Riley Park.
A slow start by Sumter and a big inning by Bishopville Post 29 left the hosts trailing 3-2 after five innings, and an impressive late-spring thunderstorm rolled in just in time for Post 29 to pick up its first victory over a League III opponent other than Camden or Cheraw this season and put an end to Sumter's 26-game league winning streak.
The P-15's fell to 8-1 on the season, remaining two games ahead of second-place Florence, which was in Cheraw for a game Friday. Bishopville, now 6-5 on the season and 5-4 in league play, further solidified its hold on third place, three games behind the league leaders and a game behind Florence. Cheraw is six games out, in fourth place midway through the season.
Bishopville head coach Preston McDonald, a former P-15 player, was all smiles after his second career victory over the P-15's. In the second round of last season's state playoffs, McDonald guided Dalzell-Shaw Post 175 to its first win over Sumter since 1989, and Friday's win was the first in at least 14 years for Bishopville, which didn't field a team during that stretch before hiring McDonald to help revive its program.
"We were battling all night at the plate," McDonald said moments after the game was called with his team batting in the top of the sixth. "(Sumter starter Matt) Price is a good pitcher, and we just went out there, battling with two strikes and trying to put some stuff in play. We were lucky enough to scratch out three runs (in the fifth), hold 'em and then here comes the storm.
"We were lucky to get out only giving up one run in that first inning," he added. "It could have been a lot worse, but (winning pitcher) J-Mac (Easterling) battled up there, and we made some plays. This will be a really big confidence booster for our team, and, hopefully, going into next week, we'll be ready to play and we'll beat some more teams."
Easterling went the distance for Bishopville, giving up only two runs and three hits while walking five and striking out two in five innings of work. It was his second solid effort of the season against Sumter, and P-15's head coach Wallie Jones gave the young right-hander credit.
"For some reason, we can't figure him out. We really can't," Jones said. "I hope we get another crack at him. I feel sure that we will, but we'll have to make some adjustments, because he has done very well in the two games."
Jones was philosophical about the loss in the weather-shortened game.
(full story)
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| Sumter remains perfect |
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
From staff reports
FLORENCE — For the first three innings of the American Legion baseball game between Florence and the Sumter P-15's on Tuesday, Post 1 starting pitcher Spencer Jordan owned the Sumter hitters.
For the rest of the game, however, the P-15's were the ones in possession of the ownership papers.
Sumter roughed up Jordan for 15 hits and eight runs over the final 4 1/3 innings he was on the mound as the P-15's went on to a 9-2 victory at the West Florence High School field and took control of the League III race.
Sumter improved to 8-0 at the halfway point of its league schedule while Post 1 fell to 5-2, 2½ games off the P-15's pace. Sumter has now won 26 straight league games.
Jordan struck out five of the first 10 batters he faced, just going one over the limit through the first three innings. The tall right-hander wouldn't strike out another batter as the P-15's began to catch up to him.
"I think our guys just began to figure him out a little bit," said Sumter head coach Wallie Jones. "He got into a pattern of when he was going to throw his changeup, and I think our guys just adjusted a little bit."
The P-15's got on the scoreboard first, picking up two runs in the fourth on three hits. However, two Florence errors played a key role in those runs scoring.
Robert Benenhaley and Matt Price reached on singles to put runners on first and second with one out. Travis Witherspoon hit a potential double-play grounder at Florence second baseman Keith Branco. However, the ball went through Branco's legs and Benenhaley scored. Price scored when Jordan's pickoff throw went down the rightfield line.
Florence tied the game in the bottom of the inning off of Sumter starter Tyler Christman. John Taylor led off with a single and scored on a 1-out double by Justin Greene. Dale Sylvester followed with a double to score Greene.
Christman only allowed two other hits in his seven innings of work. He struck out 11, walked three and hit two batters. The two hit batters came in the fifth to load the bases with two outs. Christman struck out Sylvester to get out of the jam.
"Tyler had some points where he struggled," Jones said. "He pitched in the clutch; that's what he's good at."
Left-hander Matt Talley worked two perfect innings to end the game, striking out five.
Sumter took the lead for good in the fifth, stringing together four straight hits after two were out with nobody on. Quentrell Nelson and Benenhaley had consecutive doubles and Bruce Caldwell singled in Benenhaley to make it 4-2.
The score remained the same until the eighth when Sumter picked up four runs. Samuel Key and Tyler Smith had RBI singles and Nelson had an RBI double that chased Jordan from the game.
Tony Micklon, who was 4-for-4 with a sacrifice, closed the scoring with a home run in the ninth.
"They played us tough," Jones said of Florence. "They made us work hard to earn it."
Benenhaley was 3-for-5 while Price, Smith and Nelson each had two hits. Every player in the P-15's starting lineup had at least one hit.
(full story)
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