Kinston-RM Legion game 2 rained out, moved to Thursday

KINSTON - Game 2 of the American Legion Area I East series final between Rocky Mount Post 58 and Kinston Post 43 was rained out Wednesday evening.

Rain moved into Lenoir County about 40 minutes before game 2 was to start. That rain combined with the rain that hit the field at Kinston High School Tuesday evening made the field unplayable.

Game 2 now has been moved to Thursday at 7 p.m.

AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL AREA I EAST FINALS
(best of five)

KINSTON POST 43 (14-7) vs. ROCKY MOUNT POST 58 (20-5)

GAME 1 - Rocky Mount Post 58 10, Kinston Post 43 2

GAME 2 - Rocky Mount Post 58 @ Kinston Post 43 (Kinston HS), ppd. rain - moved to Thursday, July 15, 7 p.m.

GAME 3 - Kinston Post 43 @ Rocky Mount Post 58 (Gryphon Stadium), Friday, July 16, 7 p.m.

GAME 4 - (if necessary) Rocky Mount Post 58 @ Kinston Post 43 (Kinston HS), Saturday, July 17, 7 p.m.

GAME 5 - (if necessary) Kinston Post 43 @ Rocky Mount Post 58 (Gryphon Stadium), Sunday, July 18, 7 p.m

RMHS alum helps start new Triangle sports website

If what's going on in Triangle area sports is down your line - whether it's the ACC, minor league baseball or the Hurricanes, then you might check out this new website: The Capital Sports Report at: http://capitalsportzone.blogspot.com/

Rocky Mount High School alum and ex-Rocky Mount Telegram sports editor Cliff Barnes has joined forces with three of his sports writing collegues, Neil Amato (Durham Herald-Sun,Wilmington Star-News), Dane Huffman (Raleigh News and Observer, WRAL.com) and Steve Wiseman ([Columbia, S.C.] The State), in producing the blog-oriented site.

So you can tell - these guys love sports!

The site first appeared on the Internet in May.

Barnes, who has won over 60 state, regional and national writing awards during his career, is a 1978 RMHS grad and culminated his senior year as the sports editor of UNC's Daily Tar Heel newspaper with the coverage of the Dean Smith's first national championship - UNC's dramatic 1982 win over Georgetown in the Louisiana Superdome.

Check this site out!

Post 58 wins Area I East series opener with Kinston Post 43

- Post 58's Spencer Bell

Kinston Post 43's pitching staff was less than stellar Tuesday evening in its game 1 outing with Rocky Mount Post 58 in the American Legion Area I East title series.

Kinston saw three pitchers (Cody Heath, Josh Harris, Matt Jones) come to the mound and they combined to give up nine hits, 12 walks and uncorked eight wild pitches.

It was a recipe for disaster for Kinston as it fell 10-2 to Post 58 at Gryphon Stadium. The two teams will continue their best-of-five battle Wednesday at Kinston High School. Game time is 7 p.m.

In the process, Post 58, up 1-0 in the series, recorded its 20th win (20-5) of the season - the second consecutive season it has done so (20-6 in 2009).

But things didn't start that way for Post 43.

Rocky Mount starter Jeremy Sloop issued four straight balls to ECU-bound Josh Lovick to start the game, then gave up a single to Landon DeBrul. Lovick went to third on the throw in, while DeBrul trotted over to second. Consecutive sacrifice flies by Wes Sowers and Mike Potter platted Lovick and DeBrul, respectively, to give Kinston a quick 2-0 advantage.

But that was the last time Post 43 would see the lead.

Post 58 struck for three runs in the second, six in the fifth and one more in the sixth to put the game on ice.

Cameron Ramsey's two-run double fueled the third, while Spencer Bell's RBI single and Tyler Clark's two-run base hit broke open the fifth.

And it could have been worse for Post 43.

Rocky Mount stranded 12 base runners on the night. Kinston, which tallied just five hits, left three on base. Eight Post 58 batters combined to collect nine hits on the evening with Spencer Bell leading the way (2-for-3, two RBI, two runs scored).

Sloop, after his shaky start, ended up going eight innings before letting Bill Clark pitch the ninth.

AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL
AREA I EAST FINAL SERIES
GAME 1
@ Gryphon Stadium, Rocky Mount

Rocky Mount Post 58 10
Kinston Post 43 2

Post 43 200 000 000 - 2 5 0
Post 58 030 061 00x - 10 9 0

WP - Jeremy Sloop (8 IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 5K)
LP - Cody Heath (2 IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 5BB, 0K)

Leading hitters:

Post 43 - Landon DeBrul 2-4, R; Josh Lovick 1-3, R; Mike Wetherington 1-4, 2B; Brad Hunter 1-3

Post 58 - Spencer Bell 2-3, 2 RBI, R; Cameron Ramsey 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, R; Tyler Clark 1-4, 2 RBI, R; Collins Cuthrell 1-4, 2 RBI; Matthew Berry 1-2, R; Thomas Berry 1-2, 2B, R; Kyle Norville 1-5, 2B; T.J. Taylor 1-3.

Records: Post 43 14-7, Post 58 20-5.