Beckley Post 32 Junior American Legion Sweeps Charleston Post 65 Junior Legion Thursday

Beckley Post 32 Junior American Legion opened the season with a doubleheader sweep of Clendenin Post 96 Tuesday on the road.

Thursday night in its home opener at Linda K. Epling Stadium, Post 32 mimicked the doubleheader sweep by taking two from Charleston Post 65 Junior Legion.

Scoring in every inning of the opening game, Beckley knocked off Charleston 9-4 before needing just five innings to take out the visitors, 13-2 in the nightcap.

In game one, Beckley took a 1-0 lead after the first inning and never trailed the rest of the contest.

Eli Hilling and Drew Gallaher were both hit by a pitch to set the table ahead of an error on Sam Barnett's ground ball for a 1-0 lead.

The best chance for the Post 65 to take the lead game in the top of the second inning, but Gallaher pitched around a single and a couple of Beckley mistakes to keep Charleston off of the board.

The advantage for the home squad went to 3-0 in the bottom of the inning on an RBI-double from Clay Patton and an RBI-single by Nelson Lynch.

However, Charleston did not go away and responded with a pair of runs in the third inning, aided by three Beckley errors. While Beckley struggled to make plays in the field, catcher Gage Price minimized the damage by erasing two Post 65 runners attempting to steal.

A pair of runs in the fifth inning again brought Charleston within one of the lead, but that was the last hoorah for Post 65.

Barnett opened the home half of the fifth inning with a triple and Price followed with a walk. Both runners then scored as the result of an error on Miken Smyth's ground ball.

Lynch had two hits in the win, while Smyth and Patton each drove in two runs.

Beckley wasted no time dropping the hammer in game two, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning to jump out to a 5-0 lead.

The home team slammed the door shut with four runs in the third inning and four more in the fourth.

Lynch collected two additional hits and had an RBI, while Channing Sarver and Brycen Parker added two hits apiece for Beckley. Parker also drove in two runs and had a triple.

Brady Williams ripped a solo homer.

Chance Moore went the distance for Beckley, allowing only three hits and he surrendered no earned runs.