After losing to South Richmond on Monday, the Mechanicsville Post 175 team had three days to think about how they would enter the American Legion District 11 elimination game on Thursday night against Post 284-P, the one team they had not beaten this season.

“I thought maybe the rest would hurt us,” said Mechanicsville short stop Chase Worthington. “It didn’t hurt us…It actually helped us. We were hot, our legs were fresh and our bats were on fire.”

Stepping up to the plate against the No. 1 seed Pirates, Mechanicsville let it be known that they were not going home without a fight. Lead off hitter Nick Frame battled his way through a long list of pitches from the Pirates’ Josh Karr before smacking a double to left center. And from there the hits kept coming.

Laine Denton then singled to short and a single to right by Jordan Walton drove in Frame for a 1-0 Mechanicsville lead.

Next up Chase Worthington surveyed the construction equipment surrounding Douglas Freeman’s bowl-shaped Ken Moore field and did his own damage.

With a centerfield fence that appeared to be located somewhere near Short Pump Town Center, Worthington sent a rocket home run into the construction zone to drive in Denton and Walton for a 4-0 lead.

“He’s been struggling a little bit swinging the bat,” said Post 175 coach Eddie Gates. “I told him go up there, throw your hands, throw the bat head at the bat, hit the ball and he did.”

From there Mechanicsville took advantage of the momentum to roll on to a 13-5 win.

In the game, Post 175 picked up 20 hits and seven walks against the Pirates’ pitchers but on defense they looked just as strong, turning three double-plays and getting a solid eight innings from Aaron Adkins (4 Ks, 4 Ws) on the mound.

In the top of the third, Post 175 pushed the lead to 6-0 when Connerley reached after rifling a single off Pirates’ third baseman Jacob Karr.

Beau Flinchum reached after being hit by a pitch and a single to right by Sam Hartness loaded the bases.

Then with two outs, Bryson Kemler sent a single to short that drove in Connerley and Flinchum before Hartness was tagged out trying to take third.

But Mechanicville did not expect to get out of the game without a fight. In both regular season losses to the Pirates each team held substantial leads only to watch them slip away. Most recently, 175 led 9-0 at Post 284-P before eventually falling 13-12.

And in the bottom of the third the Pirates began to find their bats.

Jamie Hendricks reached on a single to right then he was joined on base when Adam Wagner singled to right center. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch and a double to right by Josh Karr drove them home.

Next up, Jacob Karr doubled to right to drive in Josh and pull the Pirates to a 6-3 margin.

With the lead narrowed, 284 brought Kirk Jennings to the mound in the top of the fourth, but the Mechanicsville bats did not make his stay long.

With one out, Denton singled to left and Walton was walked. Next up Worthington doubled to right to drive them in for an 8-3 lead.

After Connerley was hit by a pitch, Flinchum blasted a double that nearly reached the 465 centerfield fence and drove in Worthington for a 9-3 lead.

The Pirates added one in the bottom of the fourth but Mechanicsville responded with two more in the top of the fifth.

A double to deep center by Walton drove in Frame then Walton scored on a single from Worthington for an 11-4 lead.

In the top of the sixth Frame drove in Flinchum then Flinchum drove in Walton in the seventh for a 13-4 lead.

Even with the substantial lead, Gates did not feel comfortable after seeing his team lose in a similar situation earlier. “The (Pirates’) coach is over hear (first base) saying the whole time after we got up by nine, ‘We got you where we want you now, you’re up by nine,’ I said ‘Get away, get away,” Gates said.

Worthington was also well aware of how they had lost to the Pirates in their last meeting. “It ran through my head in the first inning,” he said. “Whatever we had in the first inning wasn’t going to be enough. We had to keep hitting and keep hitting.

“I think that game actually helped us tonight, knowing that this team can hit and they can come back,” Worthington said. “So we kept that mentality that we’ve got to keep putting on runs and we did.”

The win ironically puts Mechanicsville in a Friday night rematch with Post 137, which has not played since defeating them on Monday.

With the home team winning every matchup between the two teams so far this season, Post 175 feels comfortable facing South Richmond on a neutral field.

Like the earlier loss to 284-P, Mechanicsville was in a position to win at 137 on Monday night but the game got away from them. “We were ahead in that game too and they just started tacking on runs as well,” Worthington said. “It’s just, we can start a ball game, but us closing a ball game is the key.

“They just had timely hitting,” Worthington said. “We had a couple of guys on base and we just didn’t knock them in when we had the opportunity.”

But Worthington feels that they will have an advantage when they meet up with 137 for the championship on Friday night. “I think this is going to a boost going into tomorrow,” he said. “We’ll be all fired up.”

The teams will face off at Douglas Freeman on Friday night at 7 p.m.

In the double elimination tournament, a win by Mechanicsville would mean the two teams will face up again on Saturday.

Post 175 ....................402 321 100 — 13 18 1
Post 284-P ................003 100 001 — 5 14 2
Jo. Karr, Jennings (4), Hendricks (4), Ja. Karr (7) and Carter; Adkins, Thorn (8) and Connerley.
W: Adkins. L: Jo. Karr
Post 175 highlights: Chase Worthington 3-for-6, double, HR, 6 RBI, 2 runs; Jordan Walton 3-for-5, double, 2 RBI, 4 runs; Will Connerley 3-for-5, triple; Nick Frame 3-for-5, double, 2 runs, RBI; Bryson Kemler 2-for-4, 2 RBI; Beau Flinchum 2-for-3, double, 2 RBI, 2 runs.
Records: Post 284P 20-7; Post 175 17-10.