Danville Post 325 fails to catch up to Burlington Post 63 in 7-4 loss

Tyler Younger ripped a ball to the right side of the infield that looked like it would drive in two runs and bring Danville Post 325 to within a run of Burlington Post 63.

In a split second, second baseman Matt Parker snagged the would-be hit and flipped it to second for the force out, ending the game.

It was a typical play that Post 63 made several times on a sun-splashed Sunday, ending numerous Post 325 rallies before they even started and carrying Post 63 to a 7-4 victory at Dan Daniel Park.

“I thought we put the ball in play hard. The last play that ended the ball game, that ball’s in center field for a double, possibly,” Danville Post 325 coach John Bailey said. “We hit the ball hard all day long. They just made some spectacular plays. That’s baseball — sometimes you catch them, sometimes you don’t.”

Younger and his fellow members off Chatham’s Group A state championship team — Gavin Hylton and Drew Kirks — were robbed repeatedly by Post 63 players of sure base hits. In fact, most of the lineup had several hits taken away.

Post 325 scored a run in each of the last four innings, but again, several defensive plays made the difference in one run crossing the plate instead of multiple runs coming home.

Halifax County graduate Kyle Long, who is heading to Longwood, went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Jacob Yates added three hits, two stolen bases and two RBIs.

“I saw the ball good tonight and I just did what I had to do,” Long said.

George Washington’s James Feldmann added two hits and two runs and Younger scored in the eighth after leading off the inning with a triple to right field.

Jon Racke benefited the most from the solid play in the field, picking up the win after going six innings, giving up one run on four hits and striking out four.

The top six hitters in the Post 63 lineup recorded all 13 hits. Dodson McPherson and Chris Dameron both had three hits, while Mike Gasque, Parker and Jeremy Vaughn each added two hits. Gasque came around to score twice.

“We were very pleased. We gave him the start today and he did a good job for us,” Burlington Post 63 coach John Slaughter said of Racke’s performance.

Kirks suffered the loss in five innings of work. The lefty surrendered three runs on eight hits and struck out six. He kept the damage to a minimum be leaving runners on in scoring position in the first, second and third innings.

Long tossed two innings in relief, allowing three runs on two hits and Ryne Farmer pitched the final two innings, giving up one run on three hits and striking out two.

“We hit the ball pretty well. We hit the ball hard several times,” Slaughter said. “Probably the biggest thing that I was pleased with was we made some really good plays in the field today. Probably stopped some rallies. Last out of the game was right place, right time, I guess.”

Post 325 will play three games in the next three days — all on the road. The kids from Danville will play at Post 87 in High Point, N.C., tomorrow at 7 p.m., followed by a 6:30 p.m. game on Tuesday at Post 522 in West Forsyth, N.C. Post 325 will be back in the state for the first district game of the season at Post 42 in Martinsville at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

“We’ve just got to play together and we’ll be OK,” Bailey said.