For first time, Post 45 exits after two games

ASHEBORO — Throughout the American Legion baseball season this summer, Randolph County Post 45 found it difficult to put together any type of a stretch where it played well offensively, defensively and on the mound at the same time.

After finishing the regular season with an 11-12 record and failing to make the Area III playoffs, Post 45 hoped to turn around its fortunes at the Southeast Regional Tournament, an event Post 45 has thrived in over the years. 

But just as they experienced during the regular season, the local American Legion team just couldn’t put things together in losing to Virginia 16-2 in five innings in opening action on Aug. 7 and then 11-2 to South Carolina on Aug. 8.

The losses ended Post 45’s season at 11-14 and marked the first time in the 11-year history in which an American Legion tournament was held in Asheboro that Post 45 dropped its first two games. 

This year was the ninth SER Tournament and Asheboro was the site of the Mid-Atlantic Regional twice. Post 45 was 31-14 in regional action heading into this year, including championships in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

“You run into some quality talent and you have a tremendous amount of time off, everything kind of piled up on us,” veteran Post 45 coach Ronnie Pugh said as his team played for the first time since July 2. 

“The length, I thought, in between games would help because we needed to practice more than we needed to play. We never got where we needed to be offensively. We pitched it pretty well all year until here and that gave us a chance to win some games.”

Post 45 fell behind early in the opener of the SER, as Chesapeake, Va., scored eight times in the top of the first and led 11-0 after three innings. Randolph County trailed 16-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth when Caleb Dunn and Braxton Walker knocked in runs.

On Thursday, rain postponed the 12:30 p.m. start until 8 p.m. and once again Post 45 fell behind early. Camden, S.C., the 2022 regional champion, scored three times in the first before three walks and an error pushed a run across for RC in the second. South Carolina led 10-1 and then closed the game out.

A young team, a tough schedule and a wealth of injuries all played factors in this year’s season. For those reasons and the problems Post 45 had driving in runs led to a tough season. Post 45 kept the basepaths busy offensively throughout the year, but had difficulties getting key hits and driving in runs.

“When we scored crooked numbers, it was usually aided by walks and errors,” Pugh said. 

“The speed of the game is different than in high school,” Pugh added. “A lot of times we didn’t play at the speed of this game. Part of that was being so young. You can dwell on a season like this, but we have been so good for so long, sometimes you have to get young again. Hopefully, it will benefit them in high school and next summer.”

Four times this season, Post 45 was able to record back-to-back wins, but they could never get a third-straight victory. Randolph County lost by two runs or less or in extra innings five times during the season.

Young players and first-year Legion players gained some valuable experience and that bodes well for the future. Drew Harmon, Jake Riddle, Tate Andrews, Grat Dalton, Brett Smith and Parker Kines are among those who have two more years of eligibility at the Legion level.

Troy wins thriller to advance to World Series

Troy Post 70 of Alabama won the American Legion Southeast Regional baseball tournament in dramatic fashion Sunday at McCrary Park in Asheboro. 

Troy was 4-0 in tournament play entering Sunday’s final day of action against Wayne County Post 11 of North Carolina, which was 3-1. 

Wayne County captured the first game 4-1 to force a winner-take-all finale.

Wayne County was up 4-1 again in the final, but Troy scored one in the fourth and two in the 6th. Neither team scored in the 7th, sending the game into extra innings.

In the bottom of the ninth, a line drive hit into center field on a full-count, two-out pitch with the bases loaded scored the deciding run and completed the comeback for Troy. 

The victory sends Troy to the American Legion World Series for the third straight year. 

The 97th version of the American Legion World Series will begin in Shelby, NC, on Thursday, Aug. 15.