SMITHFIELD - With second place up for grabs in American Legion's Area I West Division, Post 71 hosted a Cary Post 67 team who came into the final regular season game limping, having lost three consecutive games including a 14-1 defeat at the hands of the Sabres to start the weekend.

However, the Bulls turned the tables on the Sabres in a big way as they used eight home runs to catapult themselves to a 16-10 win that left Post 71 as the No. 4 seed heading into this week's state playoffs.

Post 67 (14-6, 11-5) smashed 19 hits as seven batters had multi-hit games. Dylan Kipp had an unbelievable day at the plate as he connected for three home runs, accounting for five of the Bulls' runs. Eric Brady contributed two round trippers of his own, as Post 67 seemed to take out their weekend's frustrations at the plate.

"The ball was flying out of the ballpark and then it snowballs," Post 67 coach Clay Council said. "It's hard to stop a team when they get on a roll. Baseball is a game of inches.

"We made the adjustments, started swinging the bats and good things happen... it happened to us tonight."

After falling behind big on two separate occasions, Post 71 (11-8, 10-6) mounted comebacks in the fifth and eight innings in an attempt to steal the No. 2 seed away from the Bulls.

The Sabres found themselves down seven runs heading into the bottom of the fifth.

After a couple of errors and a hit batsman scored three runs, Nate Lusk ripped a single down the right field line scoring Boomer Noteboom to close the margin to three runs.

The Bulls responded in the top of the seventh, however, as Brady turned in his second long fly of the game and James Todd added a solo shot of his own.

The Sabres scrapped back yet again in the eighth with four more runs. Drew Alford led the inning off with a bloop single. Jeffrey Joyner added a single as well to bring Alford home after he had advanced to second base earlier on a passed ball.

Post 71 put the pressure on Post 67 relief pitcher Chris Perry by setting the wheels in motion as Joyner took off for third base. Perry overthrew third base on the pick-off attempt, which allowed Joyner to score. Noteboom extended the inning with an infield single. Another error, one passed ball and a balk later, the score stood 12-10 and momentum was back on the side of the Sabres.

Post 67 responded one last time to put away the home club, as Post 71 pitchers were unable to keep the ball in the yard. Dylan Kipp crushed a Jeffrey Joyner pitch over the wall for a three-run shot.

Percy Evans added a solo home run on the very next pitch to extend the lead to six runs and put away the Sabres for good.

"It seemed like every mistake we made, they hit it out of the yard," said Post 71 assistant coach Brandon Lusk. "It was just one of those days on the mound. It happens everywhere to everybody.

"Our pitching, for the most part, has been good all year. We're going to give them the ball again. All these guys have been successful for us.

"It's a game that sets you up to fail, but it's the ones who accept the failure and move on who will be successful."