Richland Post 6 Pathfinders are State Champs!!!
Game 5 • August 6, 2:25 pm
| Gaffney | 2 | |
| Richland 6 | ||
State champs!!! Richland Post 6 Pathfinders: (L- R) Front - Cody Sims (Bat Boy); Second Row - Richard Mounce, Kyle Strasburger, Justin Moody, Logan Munson; Third Row - Kirk Sims,Greg Dunston, Christopher Daniels,Dalton Ardis; Fourth Row - Robbie Wilcox, Justin "Nut" Strauss, Joseph Whitaker,William Strauss, Assist. Coach Jason Sandifer; Fifth Row - Assist. Coach Kenny Stoudenmire, Alston James, Doug Allen, Head Coach Ray Derrick, Michael Bolchoz, Alan Ress. Not pictured - Punky DaSilva and Andrew Wright.
It was about 100º at Winthrop University Monday August 6, but it took a little while for the Richland Post 6 Pathfinders bats to warm up against Gaffney Post 109 in the S.C. American Legion State Championship game. The Pathfinders scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat Gaffney 6- 2 and take the title.
Richard Mounce pitches against Florence.Mounce's eleven RBIs,along with his winning pitching performance against Florence and four home runs, earned him the John Ratteree American Legion Baseball Most Valuable Player Award for the tournament.He is pictured with League V Rep.Buck Schwing. Richland head coach Ray Derrick was hoping to get five quality innings out of starter Robbie Wilcox. Wilcox delivered pitching 5- 1/3. He allowed just two runs in the third inning when Gaffney's Dylan Jolly delivered a run scoring triple to right center field. Then Justin Phillips knocked Jolly in with a single. Wilcox responded by picking off Phillips at first base and retiring four of the next six batters he faced.
In the sixth inning, Gaffney's Michael Hughey got the second of his two hits on the day, and Jolly bunted him to second base. That's when Logan Munson came on in relief for Wilcox. Munson struck out the next two batters and absolutely dominated the Gaffney offense.
In 3- 2/3 innings of work, Munson struck out seven of the 11 batters he faced. The other four either harmlessly flied or grounded out. His efforts in the championship game, plus his win against Lancaster Friday, earned him the tournament's James Maude Burnett Outstanding Pitching Award.
Kirk Sims rounds second base against Sumter. Sims hit safely in all five state final games for Richland while battling a leg injury and catching. Down 2- 0 in the sixth inning with just four hits against Gaffney starter Dustin Byers, Wilcox's double to left center field and subsequent trip to third base on a wild pitch got the Pathfinders started. Richard Mounce followed with a ground- out to Gaffney's Hughey at shortstop that scored Wilcox from third.
With a 2- 1 lead, Gaffney's Jake Watson relieved Byers in the bottom of the eighth inning. It looked like Gaffney was in good shape when Wilcox's bunt failed to advance Alston James to second base to start the inning, but Kyle Strasburger ripped a double down the left field line advancing Wilcox to third base.
Mounce then stepped up to the plate and drilled a single to left field that scored Wilcox and knotted the game at 2- 2. It was Mounce's second RBI of the game and 11th for the tournament. That, along with his winning pitching performance against Florence and four home runs, earned him the tournament's John Ratteree American Legion Baseball Most Valuable Player Award.
Robbie Wilcox avoids the tag of Florence's John Taylor to score. It was one of his four runs against Florence. Wilcox won game one for Post 6 from the mound against Georgetown. Coach Ray Derrick calls him the finest young man he's ever coached. The Pathfinders were just getting started after Mounce's game tying hit. With Strasburger at third, Derrick called for a suicide squeeze, and Kirk Sims delivered with two strikes laying down a perfect bunt that not only plated Strasburger for the go- ahead run but got him safely to first base. Munson then loaded the bases with an infield hit.
Once again, Derrick called for the squeeze with two strikes this time on Doug Allen. And once again it worked as Allen's bunt scored Mounce from third.
Richland's Christopher Daniels then delivered the death blow with a bases clearing single that scored Sims and Munson making the score 6- 2.
Logan Munson closes out Gaffney. In 3- 2/3 innings of work, Munson struck out seven of the 11 Gaffney batters he faced. His efforts in the championship game, plus his win against Lancaster Friday earned him the tournament's James Maude Burnett Outstanding Pitching Award. He is pictured with Baseball Committee Chairman E.C.Carter. That's where it stayed as Munson slammed the door on Gaffney's final three batters striking out two and forcing McRae Norton into a lazy fly ball that landed in right fielder Alston James's glove to start the celebration.
The Pathfinders rushed Munson at the pitcher's mound and dumped the water bucket on Derrick. Next up for the Pathfinders are the Southeast Regionals in Albany, GA August 16. Minor setback for the Pathfinders Game 4 • August 5, 7:30 pm
| Richland 3 |
| Sumter 8 |
Due to a slightly bizarre bracket in the S.C. American Legion State Finals at Winthrop University, Sunday August 5, the Richland Post 6 Pathfinders were forced to play Sumter Post 15.
Kyle Strasburger delivers another clutch hit against Gaffney. Strasburger went 2- for- 4 and scored the go ahead run against Gaffney. In many tournaments, the Pathfinders would have earned a bye by virtue of going undefeated in the first three rounds and awaited the team that fought its way out of the losers' bracket.
Instead, Post 6 not only drew the defending state champions, the Pathfinders were stuck being the visiting team. They mustered just seven hits and fell 8- 3 to Sumter who had previously lost to Florence.
Guaranteed a spot in the finals on Monday, Richland Head Coach Ray Derrick opted to rest his big three pitchers, Robbie Wilcox, Logan Munson, and Richard Mounce, and go with Allen Ress.
Mounce, who won against Florence on Saturday, did not return to his customary spot in center field and was given designated hitter duties.
Hot hitting catcher Kirk Sims, suffering from a leg injury, was pulled after limping to first base on a single to center field in the fourth inning. Munson did not play.
Against Lancaster, Joseph Whitaker relieved Munson in the eighth inning.He allowed only one infield hit. Even without his "A- team," Derrick's Pathfinders hung around against the potent Sumter offense and ace pitcher Matt Price.
Sumter struck first in the second inning when Tony Micklon scored on Robert Benenhaley's grounder to Richland second baseman Kyle Strasburger. Strasburger was able to get the force out at second base.
The Pathfinders struck back in the third inning when Strasburger knocked in Doug Allen from third base on a single to center field making the score 2- 1.
Matt Talley led Sumter going 5- for- 5, three of which were infield hits. He started the three- run fourth for Sumter with one of those infield hits.
Sumter scored two runs in the inning when Ress walked Benenhaley with the bases loaded then hit Tyler Cappelman with a pitch allowing Travis Witherspoon to score from third. Greg Lamb's sacrifice fly made the score 5- 1.
Greg Dunston runs out a hit against Florence. Dunston got four hits against Florence including two doubles. Dalton Ardis came on in relief for Ress in the fourth inning. He allowed three runs and struck- out four. The last of Sumter's runs came from a towering solo home run shot by Matt Price in the eighth inning that cleared the left field fence and landed high in the trees making the Richland deficit 8- 1.
The Pathfinders mounted a mini- rally in the ninth inning when Robbie Wilcox scored on a wild pitch. Then Mounce drilled a line drive shot off the left field wall for a double. Three batters later, Alston James's single to left field scored Mounce.
Doug Allen's pop up to the pitcher ended the game at 8- 3 and sent Richland to Monday's championship game around 2 pm.
Only mercy rule can stop Mounce and the Pathfinders
Game 3 • August 4, 7:30| Richland 15 |
| Florence 4 |
Doug Allen bunts against Lancaster. Allen's glove may have saved the game against Lancaster when he made a diving catch at the wall. The Richland Post 6 Pathfinder's hit parade continued against Florence in their third game of the S.C. American Legion State Finals at Winthrop University Saturday, August 4. The Pathfinders pounded out 16 hits that included a three- run bomb from Richard Mounce that appeared to still be on the way up when it cleared the 350- foot left field fence by some 50 feet and disappeared into the trees. That home run was his fourth in three games and part of a five- RBI night for Mounce who also pitched.
Florence managed to get 11 hits but only generated four runs against Mounce and fell pray to the 10- run mercy rule when its bats could not cut into the seventh inning 15- 4 deficit.
Greg Dunston and Kyle Strasburger had stellar nights for Richland. Dunston went 4- for- 5 with two doubles, three RBIs, and a run. Strasburger got two singles and a double. He scored two runs and also drove in three runs.
Shortstop Robbie Wilcox went 2- for- 3 and scored four runs. Catcher Kirk Sims continued to hit the ball well getting a single and a double. He scored once and had two RBIs.
Christopher Daniels tags out Gaffney's Justin Phillips at first base. Daniels was outstanding at first base and delivered the death blow to Gaffney with a bases clearing two- run single. The Pathfinders took a 4- 0 lead in the second inning that started with some small- ball. Alston James laid down a perfect bunt on a suicide squeeze play that scored Dunston from third. Doug Allen followed that with a walk, then Justin Strauss drilled a double down the left field line. Next, Strasburger drove in Allen and Strauss with a single to right field.
With two outs in the fourth inning, Strasburger knocked a single to center field. Wilcox followed that with a single to center field as well. Then Mounce stepped up to the plate and delivered his blast to left field. Sims kept the rally going with yet another single to center field, which was promptly followed with a double to center field by Dunston that scored Sims.
Justin Strauss takes a lead off first base against Gaffney. He went 2- for- 4 in the game. With a 10- 3 lead, the Pathfinders really put the game away in the seventh with five more runs. With Allen and Strauss on base again, Strasburger appeared to foul tip a third strike into the Florence catcher's mitt, but after much discussion, the umpire ruled the foul had hit the ground first.
Strasburger then drilled a two- run double into left field on the next pitch. It was that kind of night for Florence. Mounce followed that with a two- run single. Then Sims and Dunston each got run scoring singles.
Richland gets past Lancaster with great defense and timely hitting
Game 2 • August 3, 1:00 pm| Lancaster 2 |
| Richland 4 |
The Richland Post 6 Pathfinders used a spectacular arsenal of defensive prowess to remain in the winners bracket of the S.C. American Legion State Finals at Winthrop University and defeated Lancaster Post 31 4- 2 in the second round Saturday, August 3.
Alston James slides into first against Lancaster.He caught McRae Norton's fly ball to end the game against Gaffney. Richland's Robbie Wilcox made several acrobatic plays from shortstop getting Lancaster's Wylie Simpson in the fourth inning with a twisting throw from behind second base. Then in the sixth inning he made an over the shoulder grab of John Lewis's fly ball to shallow left field.
In the fifth inning, Richland first baseman Christopher Daniels leapt in the air to catch a tough throw from third basemen Justin Strauss and tagged Lancaster's Joe Wright on the way down before Wright could reach first base.
The defensive gem of the game came in the seventh inning with the Pathfinders still clinging to a 4- 2 lead. Lancaster's Joe Wright walked with two outs, then speedy center fielder Dedric Mingo hit a blast towards the left center field fence.
Richland left fielder Doug Allen sprinted to his left and at the last minute dove to snag the ball at the warning track to end the inning. Allen's catch definitely saved one run and more than likely stopped a game tying in- the- park homerun as Mingo was already rounding second when the catch was made.
Dalton Ardis pitched four solid innings in relief against Sumter. Fittingly, the game ended on a double play from Strauss to second basemen Kyle Strasburger to Daniels at first. Richland pitcher Logan Munson scattered nine hits through seven innings allowing two runs. Joseph Whitaker relieved Munson in the eighth inning. He allowed Lancaster only one infield hit.
Richland catcher Kirk Sims went 3- for- 4 from the plate and knocked in the game's first run with a double in the first inning that scored Wilcox from third. Strasburger had a run scoring single and also scored in the second inning when Wilcox drove him in with a triple to the right field wall.
Center fielder Richard Mounce, fresh from playing quarterback for Blythewood and throwing a couple of touchdown passes in a scrimmage with Crestwood High School earlier in the day, popped his third home run in two days.
Cody Sims. The hardest working bat boy in Legion ball. Post 6 powers through Georgetown
| Georgetown 4 | |
| Richland 19 |
Robbie Wilcox collected his fifth win pitching six solid innings for Richland.
