For Hickory Post 48, Saturday's game against Caldwell Post 29 was a game of sixes.
Six errors plagued Hickory but a six-run sixth inning rally nearly brought home a win, but Caldwell held on for an 11-10 victory at Henkel-Alley Field.
Post 48 head coach Fore Rembert praised his team's furious comeback from a 10-2 deficit in the sixth inning, but was disappointed in the defensive meltdown that let the game get away.
"I know game in and game out that we can hit the ball and score six or seven runs at any time," Rembert said, "but we just couldn't make routine plays that you have to make in order to beat a good team like Caldwell."
J.W. Laney's four singles and two RBI in addition to Tyler Wharton's two-hit, three RBI showing paced Hickory (2-2), who was out-hit 15-14 by Caldwell (2-0).
Rembert cited Dalton Hall's two-run double in the fourth inning as the spark that got Caldwell in position to pull away.
Hall led Post 29 with three hits, two RBI and a run scored, but instead of a loss due to the ten-run rule, Post 48 struck back.
"They got us in a pretty big hole, but I never lost confidence in my team," Rembert said.
"It just took some big hits from J.W., Tyler, and Justin Sizemore to get us back into contention."
Laney's two-run single and Sizemore's RBI single in the sixth keyed the comeback, while Caldwell used three different pitchers, starter Jon Sharpe and relievers Aaron Bentley and Taylor Miller, to stop the onslaught.
Sharpe allowed eight hits and four runs but took the win for Caldwell, while Hickory starter John Markley struck out two and allowed only three earned runs in five innings.
"John threw a good game, and he didn't get the support behind him that he needed," Rembert said, "but he certainly did his job well."
Relievers Jordan Lafone and Dustin Harrill replaced Markley and kept Post 48 in the hunt as Rembert held out hope that Post 29 closer Cody Poarch would give Hickory a chance to pull off the upset.
"It wasn't going to take much for us to get the lead, we just needed a couple of good hits and we would be on our way," Rembert said.
Instead, Poarch made sure Hickory left its home field with as many wins as it had when the game started.
Stefan Jordan's RBI single in the seventh reduced the Caldwell lead to one, but Poarch lodged five of his six strikeouts in the final two innings to get the save.
"If we didn't make the mistakes early in the game that we made, or even if we just took one or two errors away, we would've won," Rembert said.
The close defeat may have left Rembert's players frustrated, but Hickory's 2-2 record meant only one thing to its coach: opportunity.
"We're in contention," Rembert said, "and this season is a marathon, not a sprint."
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