Union Post 22 was bitten by the error bug in the late innings of Tuesday night’s American Legion contest and the result was a 5-4 loss to Greer. It also cost Union sole ownership of first place in Region VII, forcing Post 22 to share the top spot with Greer until the two meet again on Friday.
“Errors killed us,” said Coach Tommy Ford. “We just gave that one away.”
Union gave up a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning when Greer capitalized on fielding miscues to send four runs across home plate.
Josh Simpson took the loss for Union, tossing seven innings before Jake Walton and Seth Osborne split the final two. While all five of Greer’s runs were scored off Simpson, only one was earned with four coming by way of defensive blunders.
Bubba Means was the spark of Union’s efforts at the plate, reaching base on all four at-bats and getting Post 22 started with a two-RBI single in the second inning.
Jake Walton helped Union escape the third inning unscathed with a 4-6-3 double play and Means found a gap in right field for his second hit in the bottom of the inning. Keiston Bishop singled into left and Juwuan Rice was issued a walk before Greer turned a double play of its own to get out of the jam.
After a scoreless fifth, Greer scratched a run across with an RBI single to cut the Union lead in half, 2-1.
Jake Arthur led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to right field and Nathan Williford followed with a single. Devontae Glenn slapped an RBI single to center field before Union made its second base running mistake of the inning for out number three at home plate and things began to unravel.
Errors began to plague Union and Greer took advantage, using a four-run seventh inning to claim its first lead of the night at 5-3.
Adam Lawson singled up the middle on two outs in the bottom of the seventh, collecting his second hit of the game, but was left on when a strikeout sent Union back to defense.
After holding Greer off in the top of the eighth, Bishop roped an RBI single to center field, slicing the margin to a single run.
Osborne entered the game for Union in the ninth, following a ground out with back to back strikeouts. However, Greer returned the favor with three up, three down in the bottom of the inning to capture the road win and force Union back into a tie for first in the region with two games remaining before playoffs begin.
Post 22 will travel to Gaffney on Thursday for a 7 p.m. contest and will return to the Timken Complex on Friday night at 7 p.m. to host Greer in a battle for the number one seed.
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