Kinston Post 43’s Trey McLawhorn had a pair of two-run homers in Tuesday’s victory over Wilson Post 13. Photo by William ‘Bud’ Hardy / Neuse News

By Junious Smith III

Kinston Post 43 has started the American Legion season strong, especially at the plate.

Tuesday provided more of the same as Kinston Post 43 defeated Wilson Post 13 10-2 at the Ronnie Battle Baseball Complex at Kinston High School. Kinston Post 43 (4-1) set the tone early with nine runs in the first two innings and never looked back after reaching double digits on the scoreboard for the fourth time in five games.

“We have a really good offensive team this year, and as long as we stay within ourselves we can do this every single night,” Post 43’s Malik Dixon said.

Kinston Post 43 got its first seven hitters on base, and Jensen Barwick opened up the scoring with an RBI single. One batter after Cameron Butler hit a double to bring Barwick around, Trey McLawhorn hit a 2-run blast to centerfield on an 0-2 count to put the team up 4-0.

One inning later, Butler would get another RBI double and Barwick scored on a passed ball. McLawhorn came up to the plate and hit another 2-run homer — this one to leftfield — for an 8-0 advantage.  Christian Jones would add another run after an error to close out the inning.

“I just saw the ball really well (tonight) and just went for it,” McLawhorn said.

Wilson Post 13 would got on the board in the top of the third, but Dixon would hit a home run to center field in the bottom of the frame — Kinston Post 43’s third of the game — to keep momentum. It was more than enough for Trevor Sears, who threw a complete game while getting timely outs. Although Wilson Post 13 outhit Kinston Post 43 14-12, Sears helped strand nine baserunners and the defense had no errors.

Kinston Post 43 Coach Ty Eason said a combination of inclement weather and pitching has complemented the offense well to start the season.

“These rainouts have been working to our advantage and we’ve had fresh pitchers, as our offense can match up with just about anyone,” Eason said. “Trevor Sears was definitely a gamer on the mound and was Mr. Efficiency again. Any time you can have one guy on the mound, it allows us to save pitchers for the long stint we have coming up.”

Kinston Post 43 hosts Wayne County Post 11 Thursday and have a night off before playing six games in five days. Kinston Post 43 has a doubleheader on the road against Ahoskie Post 102 Saturday before welcoming Morehead City Post 46 to the Ronnie Battle Baseball Complex Sunday. The teams will play in Morehead City Monday before Kinston hosts Pitt County Post 39 Tuesday. The final game in the run is on the road against Louisburg Post 105 Wednesday, the lone team Kinston Post 43 has fallen to.