Camden makes history with first SC American Legion championship

Camden used a big third inning to capture the South Carolina American Legion state championship on Thursday at Francis Marion’s Sparrow Stadium.

The P17s scored five runs in the fifth inning to defeat defending champion Florence, 9-2. It’s the first state championship in program history.

Camden advances to the Southeast Regional on Aug. 7-11 in Asheboro, NC. The P17s will play Georgia at 12:30 pm on Aug. 7 in its first game of the double-elimination tournament The winner of the Southeast Regional advances to the American Legion World Series in Shelby, N.C.

This is Camden’s second regional appearance in the last three years. The P17s won the 2022 Southeast Regional that year but didn’t win the SC state championship. Camden was runner-up to Rock Hill in 2022 but earned a spot because two teams from SC made it to the regional that year.

Against Florence, Zech Haney pitched a complete game to earn the win against Florence. Haney allowed two runs, both in the seventh inning, and struck out four.

John Rollings had three hits and had two RBI. Jayden Williams had two hits and two RBI.

Camden is the second Midlands team to win a legion championship this summer. Richland Post 215 won the Junior championship last month.