Holden Upright and Asheville Post 70 have a 14-2 record in American Legion baseball after Friday’s 20-10 win at Henderson County Post 77.
EAST FLAT ROCK – Remarkable nights like Friday have been the norm for Asheville Post 70.
Nine of the 10 Cardinals who made a plate appearance came up with a hit of some kind. And a committee of five different pitchers got the job done in a 20-10 mercy-rule win at Henderson County Post 77.
This regular season was unlike any other for Asheville (14-2, 14-2) which set a record for wins. Now the team will look to build on its first district championship since 1947 in the American Legion state playoffs.
Post 70 is home at Roberson’s Holmes-Smith Field for Sunday’s 5 p.m. doubleheader against Gastonia. The format for the first-round series is best-of-five and Game 3 and Game 4 (if necessary) are Wednesday at Gastonia.
“We’re 14-2 and that’s quite an accomplishment,” Cardinals coach Shane Galloway said.
“Now it’s time to focus on the playoffs and everybody is 0-0, so what we did in the regular season doesn’t matter. Every team you play is going to bring a tremendous effort. If this group continues to have fun, I like our chances. And (homefield advantage) is big. We have a nice facility at Roberson and we’ve played pretty good ball there.”
Indeed, the Cardinals have.
They are undefeated in Skyland this year. Home and away, the team is averaging 11.4 runs per game in Galloway’s first season as coach.
Asheville jumped out to a 6-0 lead on Friday and kept pouring it on with six more runs in the fifth and eight in the sixth. The game was stopped after seven innings for the 10-run mercy rule.
Holden Upright and Danny Trizano paced the Post 70 offense with three hits each. Jared Patterson, Jacob McCarthy and Alejandro Banegas added two apiece. Patterson drove in four runs. McCarthy, Trizano and Trenton Davis all had two RBIs.
Winning pitcher Ryan Maynor threw the first inning before giving way to relievers Robert Rogers, Noah Cook, Langston Haden and Upright.
“We really swung it well (Friday) and it’s a lot of fun when everybody is hitting like that,” Patterson said.
“We definitely need to stay focused for the playoffs. It’s going to be nice to not have to travel a whole lot.”
Elijah Fiveash went 3-for-3 at the plate to lead Henderson County (2-14, 1-14). Post 77 got two hits from three different players – Beau Shealy, Austin Vanhoy and David Bumgarner.
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