Appomattox won’t surrender in close win over Salem AAA All-Stars, ending state tournament hopes

It was the second loss to Appomattox in four days. Salem opened with a 13-0 loss to the host team, but bounced back to beat Buckingham Saturday, 7-4, and Hopewell on Sunday, 6-4.

With a rematch against Appomattox Monday the Salemites fared much better. It didn’t start out well, as Salem fell behind 5-0 in the first inning. However, Evan Fletcher came in to pitch in the second inning and steadied the ship, hurling 4 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball as Salem rallied from behind.

“I thought we were going to pull this one out,” said Salem coach Kendall Keffer.

Chase Rutledge came up with a huge one-out, two RBI triple in the bottom of the second to spark the comeback attempt. Mason Hale knocked him in with an infield hit to make the score 5-3 after two innings.

Carter Black had a key two-out RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to get Salem within one run at 5-4. Then, in the bottom of the sixth, the Salem All-Stars got the leadoff man on base with a walk and cleanup batter Fletcher coming to bat. Evan hit a rocket that was caught by the second baseman in an outstanding play, and he doubled off the runner at first to shut down the potential rally. Appomattox then retired the side to pull out the win.

Salem finished 6-2 overall in post-season play and won the District 7 championship.