Orangeburg Post 4's contest against Walterboro Post 93 was everything except a walk in the park.

Although Post 4 had already earned a playoff berth, it entered the game needing to gain some momentum before beginning the postseason in less than two weeks. Walterboro did not make it easy, but Frank Leysath and his Post 4 team left Mirmow Field with a 11-7 victory.

Post 4 jumped all over Walterboro in the first inning. The offensive attack started when Rick Boyles reached second on an errant throw to first base. From there, he scored the first run of the game on a single to center field by Trent Still. Derrick Still joined the hit parade with a triple which allowed Trent to score, making it 2-0. Cal Cannon struck out, but reached first base on a passed ball, and Derrick Still, who was on third, took advantage of the miscue to give Post 4 a 3-0 lead. Kory Sanders kept the rally alive with a two-out single scoring Cannon to give Orangeburg a 4-0 cushion. Sanders and Larry Fogle, who was hit by a pitch, scored on the third single of the inning making the score 6-0. Orangeburg tacked on two more runs in the inning to jump out to an early 8-0 lead.

From that point, Post 4 starting pitcher Josh Strock kept the Walterboro offense scoreless until the top of the fourth inning. After issuing a lead-off walk to Darryl White, Strock gave up a run-scoring double to Jamel Paige to make the score 8-1. Walterboro continued to battle back. In the top of the fifth inning, Holden Crosby, who was the fifth batter walked by Strock, scored on a ball thrown into left field by Trent Still. Orangeburg's lead was now 8-2.

"Josh pitched a good game. I don't think it was his best game this year, but he pitched well enough to get by," Leysath said. Strock walked seven batters and struck out four while allowing four hits in a five-inning performance.

Orangeburg came out in the bottom half of the fifth and continued to increase its lead. After two batters reached on an infield single and an error by Trey Young, Brad McDaniel scored on a fielder's choice giving Orangeburg a 9-2 lead. Fogle scored Post 4's 10th run later in the inning after stealing home thanks to a diversion created by Kory Sanders.

Walterboro, however, would not go quietly. Gunner Bowen reached on a single in the top of the sixth and scored on another single by Young to make the score 10-3. Crosby scored following an infield single by Jeffrey Kinard leaving Orangeburg with a 10-4 lead.

"It could've been easy just to quit in the first inning," Walterboro coach Ronnie Broach said. " We fought back and we continued to put runners on."

Ryan Fisk scored for Walterboro in the seventh inning on a throwing error, to make the score 10-5. But, Orangeburg answered back with its final run in the bottom of the inning when Fogle scored on a passed ball to make it 11-5.

"After the first inning, we got very complacent," Leysath said. "They brought in Chad Bloodworth and he shut us down. The game would have been a lot tighter if he would've started."

Walterboro added two more runs in the top of the ninth before reliever Clay Dewberry forced Trey Young to fly out to right field for the final out.

With a record of 10-4, Leysath said he was happy with the way his team finished the regular season.

"This team has really progressed from Game one through game 14," he said. "How far we go in the playoffs is left up to the guys."

Post 4 will start postseason play on July 16th. Their opponent or the site for the first game has yet to be determined.

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