The Legion Collegiate Academy varsity baseball team won Tuesday night's second game of the Cheraw Tournament in dramatic fashion with a 8-7 walk-off victory over the Rock Hill Bearcats.  Legion had shut out tourney host Cheraw 2-0 earlier in the day.

The Lancers spotted Rock Hill a 4-0 lead in the first inning as Legion starting pitcher Cam Towell had a tough time throwing strikes.  He walked the first four hitters he faced and also gave up two hits and a wild pitch as he last just two-thirds of an inning.  But Will Bartnikowski came on to relieve Towell and was able to hold the Bearcats scoreless on just one hit during his three and one-third innings of relief.

Legion came back to score three runs in the bottom of the first inning and then scored four more in the third to take a 7-4 lead as all seven runs came off Bearcat starting pitcher Cole Canty.  The four runs in the third came when a wild pitch by Canty scored a run, an error allowed two more Lancers to score, and Andres Lopez singled home the final run.

Needing three outs to close out the game, LCA head coach Jalen Benjamin elected to go with Gavin Oakes to finish the game for Legion in the fifth inning, but he let the 3-run lead slip away by allowing three hits, a walk and making a wild pitch.  The Lancers got the winning run to third in the bottom of the inning, but were not able to score as the game went to extra innings.  Oakes was able to hold Rock Hill scoreless in the top of the sixth and that set the stage for Legion's walk-off win.  Griffin McKain was placed on the second base to begin the inning. He moved to second on an infield bunt single by Tyler Rosario and then Justin Iannetto walked to load the bases with no outs.  McKain scored the winning run on an infield ground out by Gavin MacDonald.

Oakes earned the win for the Lancers while Coal Webster took the loss. MacDonald provided the pop in the middle of the lineup as he led Legion Collegiate with two RBI. Rosario, Jackson Gordon and Lopez each collected two hits for the Lancers who won for the sixth straight game and improved their record to
9-4-1. 

In the opening win over Cheraw, righthander Ryan Burke allowed two first inning walks and a third inning single, but was otherwise in control as he struck out four Cheraw hitters in going five complete innings.

At the plate, Lopez had two of Legion's five hits to lead the Lancers. Iannetto put the Lancers on the board in the first inning with an RBI single. Legion added an important insurance run in the fourth as Collin Tuttle, who had walked and advanced to second, scored an unearned run on a throwing error by the pitcher.