All four teams are 1-1 in pool play, so the teams that win Saturday and Sunday will advance to the ALWS semifinals.
After getting blown out in the program’s first-ever American Legion World Series game, Camden (S.C.) Post 17 coach Stephen Carmon said his team had to do some soul-searching.
Clearly, the introspection worked as Post 17 rallied from an early deficit to knock off Troy (Ala.) Post 70, 6-3, on Friday at Veterans Field at Keeter Stadium in Shelby, N.C.
Camden lost 12-2 in 5 innings to League City (Tex.) Post 544 by the 10-run mercy rule in Post 17’s ALWS debut on Thursday.
“We had a terrible outing yesterday and I challenged their heart a little bit,” said Carmon, whose state runner-up team advanced to the ALWS by defeating South Carolina champion Rock Hill in the Southeast Regional championship game last Sunday. “This is a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ thing. You know, I’ve played a lot of baseball and I’ve never played in a World Series at any level.”
Carmon spent three years as a shortstop in the San Diego Padres’ organization after being a 10th-round draft pick out of USC Aiken in 2012.
Camden trailed 12-0 after three innings before pushing across two runs in the fourth on Thursday. Post 17 fell behind again on Friday — 2-0 after one inning — before a four-run third provided Camden all the offense it would need.
Brandon Gibbs’ two-run double tied the score, Zane Catoe’s sacrifice fly gave Post 17 the lead for good and Jamari Harris’ RBI triple accounted for the final run of the rally.
Gibbs later added a two-out, two-run double in the seventh inning for Camden.
The rest was up to Camden starter and winner Wil Stines and reliever Alex Simmons. Stines yielded four hits, four walks and two runs while striking out four in five innings to pick up the win and Simmons yielded two hits and one run with three strikeouts in two innings for the save.
Gibbs (2 doubles, 4 RBIs) and Cobe Evans (2 hits) led Camden’s 9-hit offense.
Shelton Arroryo (2 hits, double, 1 RBI) led Troy’s 6-hit offense.
Friday’s results left all four teams in pool play of the Stripes Division with 1-1 records. It means the winners of Saturday night’s 7:30 p.m. Shrewsbury, Mass.-Camden game and Sunday’s 1 p.m. Troy-League City game will advance to Monday’s tournament semifinals.
- Baseball