C/N picks up where it left off in 15-1 rout of Inman

Daniel Gregory is hoping Saturday is a sign of good things to come.

It certainly was last year.

“There’s been very few times this season where we’ve pitched, hit and played defense as well as we did today,” the Chapin/Newberry Posts 193/24 head coach said.

The defending American Legion baseball World Series champions picked up right where they left off a year ago as an 8-run third inning paved the way for a 15-1, 7-inning victory over Inman Post 45 on the first day of the state tournament at Riley Park.

C/N improved to 20-5 overall and will play Camden, an 11-6 winner over Rock Hill, today at 7 p.m. Inman fell to 21-7 and will take on Rock Hill in an elimination game at noon today.

“It was a complete game for us,” Gregory said. “Any time Tristan (Smaltz) can go out there and limit the number of runs scored and we can get 14 hits, it’s going to be a good day.”

Smaltz wound up going 42/3 innings for Posts 193/24 and allowed just one unearned run on three hits to pick up the win. It was not as dominant an outing as Smaltz is capable of, Gregory said, as the six strikeouts he registered were somewhat offset by five walks and two hit batters.

“Command wasn’t completely there, but Tristan’s got swing-and-miss stuff,” Gregory said. “He got us through today with maybe not his best stuff and we got him out of there so he can pitch again for us.

“He’s a great athlete and great athletes bounce back,”

It was a case of early missed opportunities and pitching issues of its own that compounded problems for Inman. Post 45 left five runners on base in the first two innings and couldn’t take advantage of three free passes.

“We had opportunities to score a few runs early on but couldn’t,” Inman head coach Steve Skinner said. “Seemed like when we hit the ball hard it was right at somebody. ... I think (Tim) Beach hit a line drive in the first inning that would have scored two, but it was right at the third baseman.

“When they had those situations, they got guys in and that was all the difference in the world.”

Pitching woes didn’t help matters for Post 45. Starter Hunter Gneisig lasted 22/3 innings and was charged with seven runs. In total, four Inman pitchers combined to uncork three wild pitches, walk 10 and hit three batters -- including hitting two and walking one with the bases loaded to force in runs.

“We just didn’t pitch today -- we were terrible on the mound,” Skinner said. “At one time I think they had six hits and 11 runs, so that tells you how we pitched today.”

Jordan O’Cain led C/N with three hits and drove in two runs on a single in the bottom of the third inning to cap an 8-run barrage that turned a 3-0 game into a rout. Peyton Spangler went 4-for-5 with a double, two RBI and three runs scored.

Blake Smith was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs while Chandler Todd finished with a double and three RBI. Colin Santiago had a hit and scored three runs and Ryan Stoudemire was walked twice, hit by a pitch and plated two runs.

For Inman, Mike Elijah, Luke Johnson and Robbie Vess each collected a single, Johnson scored the lone run on a wild pitch in the fifth.