Post 1 cruises in series opener

FLORENCE — You’d be hard pressed to find a hotter Legion baseball team than Florence Post 1.

In Monday night’s opening game of the state playoffs, Post 1 blasted its way to an 11-1 win in seven innings over Manning Post 68.

Post 1, now 20-3 and on a 14-game winning streak, cranked out 13 hits, including four doubles and two home runs.

“We had a bunch of quality at-bats tonight,” said Post 1 coach Derick Urquhart. “The guys went to the plate, kept their strikeouts down, put the ball in play and made outs on a lot of hard-hit balls.

“This is just one game, but hopefully we can continue to swing the bats like we did tonight.”

Post 1’s offensive onslaught was more than enough support for pitcher Spencer Jordan, who wound up tossing a one-hitter.
In his seven innings, Jordan (5-1) walked two and struck out nine.

Manning’s lone run, which was earned, came in the first inning without a hit. Jordan plunked Dyson Coker to open the game, and Coker later scored on a groundout.

Post 68’s only hit came with two out in the fifth when Aubrey McFadden reached on an infield single to short.

“Spencer has been our horse all year,” Urquhart said. “We got what we wanted out of him tonight. He held them down.”

Florence took a 2-1 lead in the second. Charlie Abbott led off the frame with a single to right. Two outs later, Oneal Kennedy and Keaton Lutcken ripped back-to-back doubles for the 2-1 lead.

Post 1 made it 6-1 with four runs in the third. Back-to-back RBI doubles from Cody Ritch and Abbott were the big blows.

Ritch gave Florence a 9-1 lead in the fourth with a towering three-run homer the opposite way over the right-field wall.

The blast is Ritch’s team-leading ninth.

“Cody is strong,” Urquhart said. “He has tremendous raw power to all fields. We’ve seen him hit them a lot farther than that one.”

While Post 1’s offense was having its way with Manning pitching, Jordan was getting stronger as the game went on.

The right-hander sat down six in a row, four straight on strikeouts, from the third into the fifth.

“It’s fun to watch our guys hit,” Jordan said. “The more breathing space they give you, the more you can relax, play with pitches and get hitters out.

“I got a lot of their guys to chase the slider and changeup, and that helped a lot.”

With two out in the bottom of the seventh, Lutcken ended the game with his first home run of the summer, a two-run shot to left that made it 11-1.

Manning starter Matt Mays took the loss. He lasted 2 1/3 innings, gave up eight hits, six runs (four earned), walked none and struck out one.

Abbott will take the mound for Post 1 in game two of the best-of-5 series in Manning tonight at 7. Robbie Brown is scheduled to start the third game at West Florence High School on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Post 68 100 000 0 — 1 1 2
Post 1 024 300 2 — 11 13 3

WP — Spencer Jordan (5-1) 7 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO.
LP — Matt Mays 2 1/3 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.
LEADING HITTERS — Post 1: Cody Ritch 2-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI; Keaton Lutcken 2-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI.
RECORDS: Post 1 20-3.
NEXT GAME: Post 1 will play at Manning tonight at 7.