Marion Junior Legion coach takes pride in team’s performance

Marion Post junior legion baseball coach Chris Drose said one of his squad’s biggest attributes is their willingness to fight through adversity and play until the final out is made.

After being down 6-3 in three innings of baseball, Marion Post 5 turned in arguably their finest performance in the five-day junior legion state tournament at Fox Field.

This past Friday’s game against Florence was a contest between teams that opened the event with two consecutive victories to remain in the winner’s bracket and an opportunity to clinch a spot in the finals.

Post 5 took a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. However, Florence tied the game on a passed ball.

With bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning, Dustin McCrea’s deep drive to the outfield drove in two runs to give Florence a 9-7 advantage.

Austin Newell delivered a chopper through the gap between first and second base for an RBI single to even the game at 9-9.

Post 5 pitcher Ross White closed out the top of the seventh inning to give his squad another opportunity to seal the game.

It turned out to be ironic that White ended up being the player to pull off the heroics as a bunt single down the first base line resulted in a throwing error and game-winning run scored by Chris Washington.

The 10-9 victory was the highlight moment for Marion and an emotional high for the team, Drose said.

“What you got, you earned right there in that last inning,” Drose told his team after the game.  Drose said the call for a sacrifice bunt to move the runner from first base into scoring position turned out to be a great bunt and he sent the runner home because he knew a play had to be made at the plate.

“We got great pitching and the kids battled after being down twice in the game,” he said.

Drose said the game was also exhausting, after his team defeated Socastee 4-2 this past Wednesday, then followed with a 5-1 victory over York before getting by Florence 10-9.

Washington was solid on the mound for Post 5 in their game against York. Justin Gause dove the baseball to the fence at centerfield for a double in the third inning, then later scored off a base hit from John Elliott. 

Josh Rogers added an RBI off the sacrifice fly ball and followed with an RBI double to provide the run support Marion needed for the victory.

Marion and Florence split two games apiece during the regular season. However, Florence won the all-important match-up in Sunday’s championship final.

Following a win over Post 5 this past Saturday, Summerville was knocked off 10-1 in the loser’s bracket final by Florence.

Florence went on to win third straight state title, defeating Marion 9-3.

“We made a couple of errors and they had hit the baseball pretty well,” Drose said, adding that pitcher Adam Sylvester, making his first start of the season after rehabbing an injury performed great.

Robert Lawhon hit a two-run homer in the second inning for Florence on the way to earning tournament MVP honors

“Florence played well all day. Our kids played great but that first game was so exciting it looks like we didn’t recover to get back up again but the kids played hard,” Drose said.

Drose said the event was good as advertised and everyone involved had fun.

Highlight scores:

Day 1
Beaufort 5, Lancaster 1
York 11, Summerville 1
Florence 14, Georgetown 4
Marion 4, Socastee 2

Day 2

Lancaster 8, Georgetown 5
Summerville 13, Socastee 5
Florence 13, Beaufort 6
Marion 5, York 1

Day 3
York 12, Lancaster 6
Summerville 6, Beaufort 4
Marion 10, Florence 9

Marion Post 5 batter Ross White takes a swing at the plate. Marion advanced to the final round and finished state runner-up.