The Manning-Santee Post 68 American Legion baseball team had their backs against the wall and still defeated the odds. They were facing an 0-2 record against Conway Post 111 in the first round of the playoffs.
They played Friday night in what could have been an elimination game but battled back and routed Post 111, 15-3.
Following was an 8-3 victory Saturday night and a 14-6 win Sunday evening.
They corrected the ship and despite facing an elimination game, they battled back and won the series 3-2.
In these last three games, they played some of their best ball of the year, according to Head Coach G.G. Cutter.
“We wanted to get by the first round and hopefully play again,” Cutter said. “We said ‘Relax and play your game. Don’t wait for somebody else to do it, you do it.’ I think things began to gel.”
Manning opened the series with a loss in a 16-14 slugfest, July 5.
Cutter said they lost the game on the defensive side while committing 10 errors.
“It was probably the worst defensive game we’ve played all year long,” said Cutter. “It was just one of those game where we hit the ball well, but defensively we gave them too many easy scores.”
The loss put them at 0-1 to start the series.
On July 7, Manning-Santee returned to their home field and again lost to Post 111, 8-7 in 10 innings.
Manning had its chance to win with men on base.
They had men on second and third base with no outs, but groundouts and easy defensive plays for Conway shut the door on Manning’s hopes.
“We just didn’t know how to win,” said Cutter. “Unless you know how to win the ballgame, you’ll do just what we did.”
On Friday, July 8, Manning traveled to Conway in the series’ third game.
Despite the 0-2 mark, they pounded out 19 hits and three homeruns en route to a 15-3 blowout.
The win was Manning-Santee’s first of the post season and it forced a game four.
On Saturday, July 9, Manning came away with an 8-3 win.
Zan Beasley started on the mound and threw seven quality innings allowing two runs, eight hits, three strikeouts and two walks.
Shuler Ward came in to relieve and also threw three effective innings allowing one run, two hits, one strikeout and one walk.
Jamal Keels led in hitting as he went two-for-five with a homerun and three RBIs.
Corey Brown followed going two-for-three; Zach Graham went one-for-three with a double and two RBIs while Heath Smith and Douglas Ard each had doubles.
On Sunday, July 10, Manning traveled to Conway for a winner-take-all deciding game.
The game was all Manning as they won 14-6 in decisive fashion.
“I believe Conway was over confident after the first two,” Cutter said.
Kevin Cox started on the mound but was pulled after three innings.
He allowed five runs, five hits, two strikeouts and two walks.
Austin Smith came in and threw the final six innings allowing just one run, four hits, one strikeout and three walks.
Jack Martin was the leading batter as he went three-for-six with two RBIs.
Mike Keels went two-for-six with three RBIs, Corey Brown went two-for-five with a homerun and two RBIs.
Heath Smith hit a homerun, Shuler Ward went two-for-five with three RBIs and Zach Graham went three-for-five also with a homerun.
In the entire series, Manning accumulated seven homeruns.
“We hit the ball extremely well on Sunday,” Cutter said.
Manning-Santee moved into the second round of the playoffs.
They are facing the Sumter P-15s in another best-of-five series that began Tuesday.
If they win the series, they will enter the third round.
However if they lose, they can still advance.
If Goose Creek wins out, Manning will battle three other losers for a spot in a loser’s bracket.
Stay tuned to www.clarendoncitizen.com for updates as the series progresses.
