Jeff Watson

jwatson@thecherawchronicle.com

CHESTERFIELD- At the beginning of the season, one of the goals for Post 74 and head coach Steven Sellers was to win a fourth consecutive league title. Although the team has faced injury after injury, they accomplished their goal and are looking to make a run in the playoffs.

Sellers says that although winning the league championship was a goal, the team wants to go further.

"If you ask any of our guys about winning the league title, they'll tell you that it was good to win it but they want more," Sellers said. "We want to focus on bigger things. We want to compete in the playoffs and try to make a run at the state championship."

Post 74's first round opponent is Georgetown. Georgetown defeated Post 74 10-9 in nine innings last year in the playoffs. Georgetown was the state runner-up last season.

"I think its good that we get to play them again in the playoffs," Sellers said. "I think our guys will be fired up knowing that they beat us in the playoffs last year. They gave us our first loss in the tournament last year. We're going to go out there and play ball. Georgetown is a good team."

Post 74 won three out of four games last week to win the league title. Post 74 defeated Mullins 14-3 on June 25. Seth Truesdale picked up the win on the mound. He struck out four batters.

Mardu Smith, Terrance Burch, JuJu Steen and Eric Newman all went 2-3 at the plate. Steen had a homerun.

On June 27, Post 74 hosted Darlington and defeated them 5-2 in a close ball game. Newman pitched a complete game, earning the win. Newman had eight strikeouts in the contest.

Burch had an RBI double in the game, but Post 74 played a lot of small ball to gain their other runs. Post 74 was up 2-1 going into the bottom of the fifth. The team hit the ball well, but Darlington's defense made plays at key moments to keep the game close.

"We noticed that they brought in a new third baseman and we started bunting down the third baseline to see what we could do," Sellers said.

Post 74 put the game out of reach in the fifth inning behind their strategy.

Sellers and his team traveled to play in a double-header on June 28. Post 74 defeated Aynor 18-0 in five innings, but fell to Marion 6-5.

Marion is the only team that defeated Post 74 this season. Marion won their first contest 4-3 in nine innings.

Post 74 finished the season 15-2.