American Legion Post 70 struggled with control during the 16-2 loss to South Carolina on Friday, bringing an end to the Southeastern Regional Tournament run.

The Troy team surrendered 13 runs in two innings.

“We came out, and the first two innings weren’t bad,” said Post 70 head coach Rush Hixon. “The pitching kind of exploded, and we couldn’t find the strike zone. It was a bad day for us on the mound. Our pitching performance wasn’t where we needed it to be.

In all Post 70 walked 14 batters.

John Kelsoe pitched 2.2 innings and allowed five runs on two hits and six walks. Robert Williams came into relieve Kelsoe and failed to get an out, allowing three runs on one hit and one walk. Joey Wazniak, Hunter Jones, Logan Thompson, Gage Herring and Andrew Griggs all pitched for Post 70.

“I am not really sure what it was,” Hixon said. “I don’t know if it was the stage they were on or what. It wasn’t characteristic of us as a team or a pitching staff.”

After a scoreless first two innings, South Carolina scored eight runs in the third on two hits and eight walks.

South Carolina added two runs in the fourth and one run in the fifth.

Post 70 was held scoreless until the sixth inning and had just one hit through the first five.

Post 70 got on the board when Logan Thompson scored on a fielder’s choice. A base hit by Casey Henderson then scored Griggs.

With Post 70 trailing 11-2, South Carolina scored five runs in the eighth inning to go up 16-2.

Post 70 had five hits in the game. Henderson, Thompson, Jones, Griggs and Zach Taylor each had a hit.

“Their guy was decent,” Hixon said. “We found some barrels. We just hit it right at guys. I wasn’t worried about our bats. I thought if we could have found some rhythm on the mound, our bats would have caught fire also. We never found rhythm, and that translated to us not having focused at bats.”

Post 70 ended the season with a 31-11 record.

“This summer was a lot of fun,” Hixon said. “I have a great group of guys. That game had no reflection on what our summer was like. We were very successful, and we had a lot of fun.”