By Charlie Bergmann: Staff Writer

The Union Pines Post 296 senior American Legion baseball team took the field Wednesday urgently in need of a victory.

Fueled by 13 hits and seven strong innings on the mound by Sam Buie, Post 296 put a couple of one-sided season-opening losses behind it with a 9-7 win over Spring Lake Post 230.

The home team broke a 5-5 tie with two runs in the seventh inning and two more in the eighth. Derek Kirk led the Post 296 offense with his second home run of the young season and a single. Also knocking out two hits for Post 296 were Brad Davis, Drew Robinson and Bryan Collins.

Buie, who took the loss in the season opener to Hamlet, allowed five runs (two earned) and seven hits, while striking out six batters and walking three. Eric Shinn pitched the last two innings to record a save.

Buie came to the ballpark unaware he would be the starting pitcher. Collins, the original starter, was scratched because of a shoulder problem.

"About 15 minutes before the game," coach Greg Robinson said, "I told Sam you've got the ball. I asked him if he was ready and he said, ëI think so.' Sam's fastball looked really good. Sometimes it looked like it had a tail on it."

This is the first Post 296 senior legion squad after three years of fielding a junior team. It is made up of players from Union Pines, Pinecrest and one from Southern Lee. Brad Davis, a 2005 Pinecrest graduate, batted .309 as the starting right fielder for Methodist College this past season. He has joined the local Legion team for the summer.

After Buie retired the visitors in the top of the first, Davis and Bruce Koenig led off the bottom half with singles. Helped by two errors, Post 296 took a 2-0 lead.

Post 230, now 0-3, came back with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the second before taking its only lead of the night with a single run in the third. But Kirk tied it with a two-out solo shot over the center field fence in the bottom of the frame.

Before the inning was over, the home team took a 4-3 lead on a single by Robinson, a walk to Ryan Summerford and another single by Collins.

After Post 230 tied it up again with a single run in the top of the fourth, an infield single by Yorke Sweat and a bloop double by Buie put Union Pines ahead 5-4 in the bottom half.

The visitors scratched out a run in the top of the seventh, tying the game at 5-all. But with Daniel Maultsby replacing Post 230 starter Arlen McDaniel, the home team rallied.

After Kirk led off with a walk, Robinson lined a ball on one hop off the fence in left-center for a double.

One out later, Collins was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. A bad hop single by pinch hitter Russell Blue was followed by a base hit through the left side of the infield by Carson McLean, making it 7-5.

Shinn took over for Buie and retired the visitors in order in the top of the eighth. He then led off the two-run bottom of the inning with an infield single. Post 230 made things interesting with two runs in the ninth, and had the tying runs aboard, before Shinn got a couple of infield outs to end it.

Buie was feeling a whole lot better about things after his team's first win of the season.

"The first two games were kind of rough," he said. "Tonight, we hit the ball better and the defense was better. We've got some goods guys on this team."

Coach Robinson called the win a team effort all the way around.

"I told the players before the game, that we needed a win," he said. "I knew we had the capability to do it, it was just a matter of when we were going to do it."

Robinson is being assisted in the coaching department by Marty Buie and Doug Collins. He praised the support group that takes care of concessions, scorekeeping, operating the scoreboard and other jobs.

"It's a good family atmosphere with everyone working together," he said.

The next game is at home against the Hope Mills Booster on Monday at 7 p.m.

R H E

Spring Lake 0 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 -- 7 9 3

Union Pines 2 0 2 1 0 0 2 2 X -- 9 13 4