Troy Post 70 loses in extra innings

Published 11:55 pm Saturday, July 18, 2009

Troy Post 70 suffered its second straight loss Saturday at the Alabama American Legion Junior State Tournament, falling to East Limestone 5-4 in extra innings.

“It’s a little frustrating,” said Troy head coach Bradley Futch. “For two straight games, other teams have gotten the big hits late in the game and we haven’t been able to.”

Troy led 4-2 heading into the seventh, but East Limestone’s Samuel Medley tied the game with a two run blast over the wall in left field off of Troy pitcher Quay Lawson.

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“You know, that kind of stuff happens,” Futch said. “We brought a guy in and he was in a tough situation. This is baseball. I tell the guys that if they throw strikes and someone hits a home run, I’m not going to get upset because that kind of thing just happens in baseball.”

Troy built the 4-2 lead by scoring in the first, third and fourth innings.

Nathan Barron had an RBI single in the first and followed that up with an RBI triple in the third.

Barron later scored form third on a passed ball to put Troy up 3-2.

Troy added another run in the fourth off of an RBI double by Michael Thomas.

Despite the tough loss, Futch said there were bright spots, such as starting pitcher Dalton Harris.

Harris pitched the first six innings, giving up three runs on five hits and striking out six.

“Harris was awesome out there today,” Futch said. “He just kept battling. He threw over 100 pitches and started to get kind of gassed, so I had to take him out. But, he was great.”

Futch was also proud of the way his team responded to losing its tournament opener in extra innings.

The fact that we came back from the tough loss last night and played a good game today is a testament to the character of our guys,” Futch said. “They never quit.”

Troy scored four runs in the game and was led offensively by Barron, who went 3-4 with two RBIs.

Thomas was 1-3 with one RBI.

Lawson pitched the final two innings for Troy, giving up two runs on four hits while taking the loss.

Unfortunately for Post 70, the loss dropped it to 0-2 in Pool B play and eliminated the team from contention for Monday’s championship game.

Post 70 will wrap up its season Sunday when it takes on Post 34 Tuscaloosa Navy at 1 p.m.