Randolph County Post 45 standouts Stephen Davis and Ethan Marsh, meanwhile, took advantage of all six chances they had in similar situations and paced Post 45 to a 7-3 victory Tuesday morning in the opening game of the 2008 N.C. American Legion Baseball State Championships.

The Johnston County-based Sabres went hitless in their first seven chances with runners on base and finished the contest 2-for-14 with ducks on the pond, stranding 10 base runners in the process and setting up another 9:30 a.m. outing at Sims Legion Park Wednesday morning against the loser of Tuesday night's Cherryville vs. Wilmington battle.

"We know we had good chances but their guys made some good pitches at key times," said Post 71 assistant coach Brandon Lusk. "But we struggled at the plate most of the day. I thought there was only one inning where we had really good at bats. It was just one of those days for us."

Post 71, which has averaged double-digit run production in the playoffs, couldn't find the string of hits it has found so many times in the playoffs on Tuesday morning.

Randolph County, the Area III champs, meanwhile, turned it on in the clutch with runners on base. Post 45 jumped ahead 4-0 in the bottom of the third with a two-out, two-run double from Davis, which Marsh followed with a home run over the left field fence. It was Marsh's sixth homer of the playoffs.

Both Davis, who got the win on the mound with a six-plus inning, nine-strikeout effort, and Marsh were 3-for-3 with runners in scoring position on the morning. Marsh added an RBI single with two-out in the fifth, for Post 45's fifth run after Davis had kept the inning alive with his two-out single. Davis' two-out slicing single to left in the seventh brought home Randolph County's sixth run of the day.

"Good teams are going to score more with two outs," Lusk added. 'They did a good job of two-strike hitting as well."

Post 71 put runners on base against Davis in the first two innings, then loaded the bases with two outs in the third but couldn't come up with a hit.

"We had guys in scoring position," Lusk said. "We've just got to come through in more situations like we had. I don't know if it was nervous or what but we weren't ourselves at the plate at times."

The fifth was the best inning the Sabres put together at the plate. Trailing 4-0, with runners on the corners after a double by Evan Harbinson and a bunt by Drew Alford, Davis got a strikeout for the first out, then got a ground ball from Brian Mills that Post 45 nearly turned into a double play but Mills beat out the throw to first and Harbinson scored, pulling Post 71 within 4-1.

Kyle Cummings popped up for the second out and catcher Blake Murray was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Barton College recruit Ryan Daughtry.

Daughtry fell behind 1-2 in the count but punched a single to right field, scoring Alford and Mills. Murray was tagged out at third, trying to go from first to third on the play, ending the inning.

The Sabres' offense did force Davis to labor through several innings. It took 97 pitches for him to get through the fifth inning and he was pulled with one out in the seventh after throwing his 122nd pitch.

"It's never been something we've talked about with the kids," Lusk said of making an effort to take more pitches. "When you haven't seen a team before and we haven't seen any of these teams in the West, it helps you to have more looks at a guy's stuff.

"At times I thought our approach was off; we took some good pitches that we shouldn't have taken. And we took some big hacks at the wrong time as well."

After putting two runners in the seventh, Post 71 never threatened again against the side armed throwing Jake Ozment and Marsh, Randolph County's closer.

Post 71 starter Justin Diener, who has battled with a strained hip flexor for the past three weeks, worked six innings and struck out seven batters but took the loss.

Post 45, now 36-11 on the season, plays a winners' bracket game against either Cherryville or Wilmington Tuesday at 4:30.

Lefty Colin Parker, a Princeton native, gets the start for Clayton (19-12) Wednesday morning.

"We'll just be ready to show up and play whoever we play," Lusk said. "Hopefully, we'll make some adjustments in our approach at the plate and have more luck on offense."