Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Cherryville, NC (WNN) - As the American Legion regular season heads into the final few weeks, several teams are beginning to separate from the pack. Although the top seeds in both the Senior and Junior Divisions are still up for grabs, top teams are emerging. There are fewer than two weeks left in the Senior division and fewer than 10 days left for the Juniors. Several high schools in the Area IV region made deep playoff runs, delaying the start of the legion season for most teams, and recent rainy weather has forced several suspended games to be rescheduled, creating a logjam of games during a brief period.
The usual suspects, Cherryville, Shelby, and Asheville, are hanging out at the top of the standings, but the Gaston Braves have them looking over their shoulders. The Braves began the season playing competitively but have recently hit their stride, going 5-2 in their last seven outings. Several of their losses were late-inning rallies that fell just short. They are currently in fifth place with a record of 6-5, right behind the 4-2 Asheville Cardinals and the 5-3 Caldwell County. The Braves have 5 games remaining; four of them are against the top three teams. They played Shelby and Cherryville once, and Asheville twice. Gaston Post 144-266 not only has a chance to play spoiler but also has a legitimate shot at the regular-season title. Caldwell County still has the bulk of its schedule left to play, but with only 3 losses, they are very much still in the mix. Cherryville is clinging to a slim half-game lead over Shelby Post 82. In other words, there are four or five teams in a highly contested battle.
This week produced several very good games; in fact, it was hard to narrow it down to just one.
Talon Dalton and Tucker Sigmon each put on a hitting clinic, with Dalton going 3-3, 3 runs scored, and 4 RBIs, including a solo home run in the third, and Sigmon hit 4-4, scored 3 runs, and 4 RBIs, including a monster blast to left field for a 3-run home run. Both guys also added stolen bases. Nate Rollins and Preston Henson added 2 hits. As a team, Cherryville had 13 hits, yet the non-division game was close throughout. Union County began the game leading 2-0, Cherryville answered with 4 in the bottom of the first. Each team scored one in the second, and after three, Cherryville led 10-7. The score was 13-11 after five, and Cherryville Post 100 added a run in the sixth for the 14-11 finals. Union County posted 12 hits in the game, with two hits from Christian Pawl, Austin Martinez, Kyle Kroehler, and Brian Deveraux. Cherryville used 4 pitchers and Union County 3 in this slugfest. This was a great game to watch if you are a fan of offense.
The Braves took an early 4-0 lead after two innings. Hickory Post 48 took advantage of a couple of errors, two singles to tie the game in the third. They pulled ahead 6-4 in the next inning off a 2-run home run by Wyatt Everman. Post 144-266 tied it 6-6 in the bottom of the fifth. Once again, the lead switched hands at the top of the sixth as Hickory went up 7-6. The Braves were still trailing 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh when Canton Bare connected with his only hit of the night, and it was a big one, as Bare hit a 2-run double for a walk-off 8-7 victory. Brandon Washington had 2 hits, and Jonathan Kalmbach drove in 2 runs for the Braves.
Cherryville Post 100: 6-1 8-2
Shelby Post 82: 5-1 8-3
Asheville Post 70: 4-2 7-4
Caldwell County Post 29: 5-3 5-3
Gaston Braves Post 144-266: 6-5 6-7
Rutherford County Post 423: 4-5 4-5
Hickory Post 48: 3-6 3-6
Gastonia Post 23: 2-7 2-7
Burke County Post 21: 1-6 1-6
Sunday 6-14-26 Rutherford County 8-7 over the Gaston Braves, Gaston Braves 5-1 over Rutherford County (Double Header). Asheville 11 Caldwell Co. 1.
Monday 6-15-26 Shelby 11 Gastonia 2.
Tuesday 6-16-26 Asheville 8 Burke County 7, Shelby 8 Caldwell County 7, Gaston Braves 4 Hickory 1, Rutherford County 7 Gastonia 3, Cherryville 14 Union County 11.
Wednesday 6-17-26 Cherryville 13 Gastonia 1, Shelby 11 Greenville, SC 1, Burns 8 Hickory 7.
Thursday 6-18-26 Burke County 2 Hickory 0, Cherryville 6 Hickory 3 bottom of 5th rain suspended, Gaston Braves 7 Gastonia 1.
Friday 6-19-26 Caldwell County 10 Rutherford County 6, Caldwell County 13 Rutherford County 2 (Double Header), Cherryville 8 Burke County 0, Greenwood, SC 5 Asheville 3 (North-South Tournament in Shelby), Shelby 7 Greenwood SC 6 (North-South tournament Shelby).
Saturday 6-20-26 Fort Mill, SC 15 Cherryville 10 (North-South Tournament in Shelby), Asheville 6 Richland, SC 3 (North-South Tournament in Shelby), Florence, SC 2 Asheville 1 (North-South Tournament in Shelby), Richland, SC 7 Shelby 6 (North-South Tournament in Shelby), Caldwell County 7 Gaston Braves 3, Burke County 2 Hickory 0.
Sunday 6-21-26 Caldwell County at Hickory, in Shelby at the North-South Tournament is Cherryville vs Richland, SC noon, Cherryville vs Florence, SC 2:30pm, Florence SC, at Shelby 5pm
Monday 6-22-26 Burke County at Caldwell County, Hickory at Asheville, Shelby at Gaston Braves
Tuesday 6-23-26 Asheville at Gastonia 5 pm Double Header, Cherryville at Rutherford County, Shelby at Caldwell County
Wednesday 6-24-26 Rutherford County at Burke County 5pm Double Header, Gastonia at Cherryville, Hickory at Caldwell County, Shelby at Asheville
Thursday 6-25-26 Gaston Braves at Asheville, Rutherford County at Shelby
Friday 6-26-26 Burke County at Shelby, Gaston Braves at Cherryville, Gastonia at Hickory
Saturday 6-27-26 Rutherford County at Asheville 4pm Double Header, Cherryville at Burke County, Union County at Caldwell County
The Area IV South Division is settling into a four-team race. Burns is currently enjoying a 1½-game lead over second-place Cherryville, who is trailed by Shelby by ½ game and East Rutherford close behind. Burns and Cherryville both had great weeks, each going 4-0. The teams are heading into the last full week of games before the end of the regular season. Area IV playoffs are scheduled to begin on July 1; it appears the regular season title will not be decided until the last game on June 30. All results and standings are through June 20, 2026.
Burns 10- 10-1
Cherryville 9-3 9-3
Shelby 8-3 9-3
East Rutherford 4-3 4-3
Gaston Braves Blue 6-7 6-7
Lincolnton 5-6 5-6
Gaston Braves Red 5-7 5-7
Gastonia 3-9 3-9
Bessemer City 0-11 0-11
Monday 6-15-26 Shelby 12 Lincolnton 1, Cherryville 11 Gastonia 4, Gaston Braves Blue 17 Bessemer City 3, Burns 10 Gaston Braves Red 3.
Tuesday 6-16-26 Burns 14 Bessemer City 2, Gaston Braves Red 7 Gastonia 2, Lincolnton 10 Gaston Braves Blue 0.
Wednesday 6-17-26 East Rutherford 18 Gaston Braves Blue 9, Cherryville 12 Shelby 1.
Thursday 6-18-26 Gastonia 16 Bessemer City 4, Cherryville 13 Gaston Braves Red 3, Burns 8 Lincolnton 4, Gaston Braves Blue 11 East Rutherford 5.
Friday 6-19-26 Lincolnton 12 Gastonia 4, Burns 9 East Rutherford 8, Cherryville 16 Bessemer City 2.
Sunday 6-21-26 Cherryville at Burns
Monday 6-22-26 Gaston Braves Blue at Shelby, Gaston Braves Red at Bessemer City, Gastonia at East Rutherford, Lincolnton at Cherryville
Tuesday 6-23-26 Gaston Braves Red at Lincolnton 6:15pm, Bessemer City at Shelby, Burns at Gaston Braves Blue, Cherryville at East Rutherford
Wednesday 6-24-26 Shelby at East Rutherford
Thursday 6-25-26 East Rutherford at Gaston Braves Red, Gastonia at Gaston Braves Blue, Lincolnton at Bessemer City, Shelby at Burns
Friday 6-26-26 East Rutherford at Lincolnton 6pm, Burns at Gaston Braves Red
Monday 6-29-26 Cherryville at Shelby, East Rutherford at Gastonia
Tuesday 6-30-26 Burns at Gastonia, end of regular season.
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