The Cary Post 67 Senior Legion finished out their postseason on the receiving end of a Nash County sweep, just one round away from a state championship berth.

After dropping the first two games of the series 15-0 and then 7-6 at home, Cary returned to Rocky Mount and dropped the third game of the best-of-five series.

After sweeping through its first two opponents and going 3-1 against regular season champion Durham, head coach Neil Woodall said the Cary team ran into a Nash County squad that wouldn’t be beaten.

“Our guys fought really hard,” Woodall said. “In this particular case, Rocky Mount was just better than we were.”

Clay Council, the team’s hitting coach, said Rocky Mount outplayed the stumbling Senior Legion.

“We were just about one clutch hit from putting the runs up,” Council said. “They had two great relief pitchers; they just came in and overpowered us. They pitched their way out of several jams.”

According to Woodall, Game Three was a continuation of Game Two — a back-and-forth match full of momentum shifts and excellent pitching. James Todd started on the mound for Cary and his team took an early lead, only to see Rocky Mount tie it up a few innings later. Both teams came back and tied it several times, then Rocky Mount went up by a few runs late in the game and held on.

“We had several opportunities and couldn’t get a hit when we needed it, and they played almost mistake-free,” Woodall said.

Once again, while Nash County stole bases left and right, Cary had trouble moving its runners. A two-run Nash County home run in the middle innings provided a good omen for the home team’s chances of completing the sweep.

On the other side, Cary’s sluggers also had no trouble knocking the ball out of the park. Woodall said Dylan Kipp and Chris Perry each hit their second home run in two games.

Council said a reliance on that ability may have had something to do with the team’s season-ending losing streak.

“We were just waiting for the home runs sometimes, but good pitching will stop that home-run hitting,” Council said. “We averaged two [home runs] a game and we had some power in the line-up, but they played that hit-and-run style and it paid off.”

Both coaches said observing the sheer power behind some of their hitters was a highlight of the season. Woodall said the team had to employ a group of parents whose job it was to stand behind the fence, gather up the home run balls and bring them back during batting practice.

“Batting practice was just show time; it was like the home run derby,” Council, a man who knows a thing or two about home run derbies, said. “They’d hit 40 or 50 balls out of the park. Just tremendous power.”

While the Senior Legion didn’t make it as far as it wanted, its coaches say the departing players have plenty to be proud of as they move onto college.

“We had the best season since 1995 and our program has a lot to be proud of between our team and the junior league,” Woodall said. “We took a bunch of guys from four different high schools and blended them into a team with a common goal. The first goal was to win the conference championship, and we did. We would have loved to go to the state championships, but it wasn’t meant to be this year.”

Woodall said he is looking forward already to next year, as a plethora of talent will rise from the junior legion, who experienced some postseason success of its own this year.

“The experience we gained in the playoffs this year is unmatched and I’m excited about what the Bulls are sending up to us,” Woodall said. “We’re really excited about next year’s potential, and we’ll build on what we did this year.”