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Florence leaves Asheboro with Southeast Regional title

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ASHEBORO – Florence (S.C.) Post 1 completed a sweep of the Southeast Regional in American Legion baseball, winning Sunday afternoon’s title game by 8-5 against Fuquay-Varina Post 116.

Florence went 5-0 in the regional at McCrary Park, including Saturday night’s 5-4 decision in 11 innings against host Randolph County Post 45.

Florence (30-5) needed just one victory Sunday, but an extra game wasn’t required as Post 1 topped Fuquay-Varina, the North Carolina state champion, for the second time in the regional.

Post 1 goes on to the American Legion World Series later this week in Shelby. This marked Florence’s third regional championship and its first in 11 years.

Zach Hunt’s three-run home run set the tone as Post 1 notched four runs in the top of the first inning. Florence led 7-3 after three innings.

Fuquay-Varina finished with a 30-7 record.

Post 45 logo for web

Post 45’s season ends with 11-inning loss in Southeast Regional

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ASHEBORO – It took most of Saturday night before Randolph County Post 45 was dismissed from the Southeast Regional.

The host team battled for 11 innings with Florence (S.C.) Post 1 before suffering a 5-4 loss at McCrary Park.

“We’ve been playing all night,” Post 45 manager Ronnie Pugh said. “This was a classic. Our guys sucked it up and played.”

Florence (29-5) is unbeaten in the double-elimination regional and will play Fuquay-Varina Post 116 (30-6) at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. If Fuquay-Varina wins, another winner-take-all game will follow.

Post 45 ended the season with a 25-8 record, going 2-2 in regional play for the second year in a row.

This one came with an array of twists and turns.

“I thought for sure we were going to win it,” shortstop/pitcher Hunter Atkins said. “That’s how it goes. There was ups and downs.”

Post 1’s Josh Williams tripled to begin the 11th and scored on Noah Moore’s sacrifice fly.

Post 45 tried to match it, with Carter Brown starting the bottom of the inning with an infield single and moving to second on Caleb Dunn’s sacrifice bunt. Tanner Marsh drew a two-out walk and then a wild pitch moved up the runners before Atkins walked. Tyler Parks, who held the hero’s tag several times during the game, fouled out to end it.

“You can’t ask for anything else out of your team,” Parks said.

Atkins threw 87 pitches, the most he has thrown in a game at any level. He struck out seven in six innings of relief.

“We played a baseball game here and everybody was into it,” Pugh said. “I would much rather go out in a game like this than get beat 7-1. … We were capable of winning this tournament.”

Post 45’s dramatics cranked up in the fifth inning. Florence reliever Collin Minshew walked Marsh and Atkins before Parks lofted a home run to left field to put Randolph County ahead 4-3.

Marsh pitched five-plus innings, giving up singles to the first two Post 1 batters in the sixth. Atkins worked out of the jam.

“You had to be tough (in this game),” Atkins said. “You couldn’t be mentally soft.”

Parks, the third baseman, had spectacular glove work in the seventh after Post 1’s Collin Minshew led off with a double. Parks made a sliding catch of Jackson Moore’s foul popup for the first out. Minshew scored on a two-out wild pitch, but Parks’ play might have prevented a big rally.

Parks was at it again in the 10th, starting a double play with a nifty stab and throw after the first batter reached on a single.

Atkins led off the bottom of the 10th with a double and Parks was intentionally walked, but Post 45 couldn’t produce the winning run.

Randolph County’s Pierce Leonard went 3-for-4 with a walk. Parks and Brown each had two hits.

Earlier, Williams hit his second home run of the regional to open the scoring. Zach Hunt rapped a two-run double in the third.

Post 45 put its first two batters in the third inning on base with singles by Alex Martinez and Marsh. But Florence right field tracked down Atkins’ deep drive and Parks grounded into a double play.

Randolph County loaded the bases with one out in the fourth and scored on Dunn’s walk, but another double play ended the threat.

This marked the first extra-inning game in the regional.

In Saturday’s first game, Fuquay-Varina drilled West End (Va.) Post 361 by 14-2 in a game reduced to five innings by the mercy rule.

Post 45 Hunter Atkins swings in June2023 v Cleveland County

Post 45 blasts off, keeps season going in Southeast Regional

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Hunter Atkins, above, and several of his Randolph County Post 45 teammates had strong offensive games in Friday’s Southeast Regional game. (Randolph Record file photo)

ASHEBORO – Hunter Atkins drove in three runs and six of his Randolph County Post 45 teammates racked up two runs batted in a 17-1 whipping of Owensboro (Ky.) Post 9 in Friday afternoon’s elimination game of the Southeast Regional at McCrary Park.

The American Legion baseball game ended after five innings. Post 45 (25-7) scored in every inning, including seven runs in the top of the fifth.

For the second year in a row, Randolph County has advanced to the second-to-last day of the regional. It will be one of four remaining teams when Saturday’s action begins at 4:30 p.m.

Tanner Marsh, Tyler Parks, Josh Meadows, Connor Adams, Carson Whitehead and Pierce Leonard all knocked in two runs. Adams had three of Randolph County’s 10 hits and he also scored three runs. Marsh rapped two doubles.

Post 45 drew six walks and had six batters hit by pitches.

Braxton Walker pitched the first four innings and Drew Harmon threw in the fifth for Post 45.

Owensboro finished with a 21-12 record.

The Randolph County / Owensboro game was the first of three games on Friday’s schedule. Post 45’s opponent Saturday will be the loser of Friday’s nightcap between Florence (S.C.) Post 1 and West End (Va.) Post 361.

Post 45 Pierce Leonard fielding July2023

Leonard takes baseball path with Post 45; Southeast Regional set to begin in Asheboro

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 Second baseman Pierce Leonard of Randolph County Post 45 makes a play in the field earlier this season. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO – Pierce Leonard is a first-year member of the Randolph County Post 45 baseball team. There’s a reason that he pursued American Legion baseball this summer.

Having finished his final high school year at Eastern Randolph after transferring from Uwharrie Charter Academy, Leonard chose baseball as a preference in terms of a sport to play in college.

“I figured I could go farther with baseball than I could basketball,” Leonard said.

He said he’ll play baseball at Guilford Tech.

But first, Leonard will be part of the Post 45 team aiming for a resurgence in this week’s Southeast Regional at McCrary Park. Games begin Wednesday.

Leonard, who was a defensive back in football, was one of the standouts in Eastern Randolph’s key players during a record-setting basketball season that extended into March in the Class 1-A championship game.

Days later, he was on the baseball field for the Wildcats.

“I hadn’t played baseball since my freshman year,” Leonard said. “I feel baseball is natural to me. I’m just loose up there.”

Leonard, after fouling a ball off his shin, was out for most of the recent Post 45 postseason games. Randolph County manager Ronnie Pugh said Monday that Leonard was pretty much at full speed at a weekend practice in advance of the regional.

“He should be good to go,” Pugh said.

Post 45 holds a 23-6 record, with four of those losses coming to Rowan County and the other two to High Point-Thomasville. Randolph’s spot in the regional was secured because of an automatic bid reserved for the host team.

When Post 45 failed to advance to the Area 3 finals, it meant the team would have more than a two-week layoff before the Southeast Regional.

Post 45 has numerous players with experience from last year’s regional. Among those are lineup regulars Tanner Marsh, Braylen Hayes, Tyler Parks and Josh Meadows plus Alex Martinez and Robert Garner.

Martinez, a catcher and utility player, is with Post 45 after a season with Brunswick Community College. He didn’t play much in the spring, in part because he was behind Tatum Marsh, a former high school teammate at Asheboro and ex-Post 45 mate. 

Checking the regional …

The five-day regional includes teams from seven states. It’s a double-elimination format.

There are four games the first two days and then three games Friday, two more Saturday and one or two games Sunday.

Post 45 will play the nightcap each day if it’s in the winner’s bracket. Randolph County opens Wednesday against Columbia (Tenn.) Post 19. That game is set for 7:30 p.m.

Other first-day games are Evans (Ga.) Post 192 vs. Owensboro (Ky.) Post 9 at 9:30 a.m.; Belleview (Fla.) Post 284 vs. West End (Va.) Post 361 at 12:30 p.m.; and Florence (S.C.) Post 1 vs. Fuquay-Varina Post 116.

Belleview, Evans, Owensboro and Columbia all played in the regional last year at McCrary Park. Post 45’s only game against any of those teams came with an eight-inning victory against Evans on the second day in a winner’s bracket game, but Randolph County lost its next two games and was eliminated.

Fuquay-Varina won the North Carolina state tournament, topping Wayne County Post 11 in Saturday’s final in Buies Creek.

The regional winner advances to the American Legion World Series next week in Shelby.

Post 45 player Alex Martinez in Aug2022

Post 45 could have core of roster back next year

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Alex Martinez, shown here batting for Randolph County Post 45 during the Southeast Regional earlier this month in Asheboro, could be among the team’s returning players for 2023. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

 

ASHEBORO – When the season ended for Randolph County Post 45 earlier this month, it was a downer.

The team lost back-to-back games to be eliminated from the Southeast Regional in American Legion baseball in its home ballpark.

Yet there might have been a ray of hope regarding the future that day at McCrary Park.

“Only three of our 17 players are gone,” Randolph County manager Ronnie Pugh said. “We could have a lot of these guys back.”
Post 45 ended up with a 31-13 record this year. It was an automatic regional entrant based on its role as the host team.

Given the experience on Randolph County’s team, it might have seemed strange that only three of the players will age out. Pugh said that trio is right fielder Blake Marsh, second baseman Tatum Marsh and catcher/utility player Trey Way. All three of them were pitchers as well.

Granted, those are significant losses because all three usually occupied spots within the top five pegs in the batting order.

Blake Marsh (Catawba) and Tatum Marsh (Brunswick Community College) spent the 2021-22 school year at post-secondary school stops, while Way was a 2022 senior on Randleman’s second consecutive Class 2-A state championship team. Way is beginning his freshman year at Virginia Tech.

Several other Post 45 players will be heading to post-high school programs during the school year that’s just starting. That includes center fielder Braylen Hayes at UNC Greensboro, catcher Alex Martinez at Brunswick Community College and pitcher Robert Garner at Wake Tech.

Other Post 45 starters are rising high school seniors. That list includes left fielder Adam Cole (Southwestern Randolph), third baseman Tyler Parks (Southwestern Randolph), shortstop Tanner Marsh (Asheboro) and first baseman Josh Meadows (Asheboro). Several other players still in high school – such as Grant Little (Uwharrie Charter Academy), Drew Harmon (Montgomery Central) and Connor Adams — were part of this year’s postseason contributors.

In some cases, the 2023 college players or high school seniors might opt for other summer destinations rather than American Legion baseball.

After losing the Area 3 title game to Rowan County, Post 45 went 2-2 in both the state tournament and the Southeast Regional.

“We’ll get back out there and start recruiting,” Pugh said of encouraging eligible players to participate in American Legion baseball.

So there would be a strong quest for Post 45 to contend for a spot in the 2023 American Legion World Series in Shelby.

Earlier this month in Shelby, Troy Post 70 became the first Alabama entry two win the American Legion World Series since 1967 by defeating two-time defending champion Idaho Falls (Idaho) Post 56 in the championship game.

Camden (S.C.) Post 17, which won the Southeast Regional in Asheboro, went 1-2 in World Series bracket play and failed to advance to the semifinal round. Camden’s lone victory came against eventual champion Troy.

Post 45 final handshake

Season fizzles on Post 45 in elimination loss

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Randolph County Post 45 team members go through their final postgame handshake line of the season Saturday at McCrary Park.

ASHEBORO – This Randolph County Post 45 baseball team seemed built for big things.

Too many big innings for opponents became the undoing for the host team in the American Legion’s Southeast Regional.

“I definitely think we could have had a better season than this,” left fielder Adam Cole said.

The end came with a 15-5 loss to Wilmington Post 10 in an elimination game Saturday at McCrary Park. The game was reduced to five innings by the mercy rule, with Wilmington racking up the final 15 runs.

With back-to-back losses, Post 45 (31-13) was finished. That left three other teams from the original eight-team field left to determine the qualifier for next week’s American Legion World Series.

“I thought we were going to run through this,” Randolph County center fielder/pitcher Braylen Hayes said. “It’s all about how you play as a team.”

Just like the state tournament a week earlier, Post 45 began with two victories and then exited with losses in its next two games.

“A tough two weeks,” Post 45 manager Ronnie Pugh said. “With all the injuries, it’s pretty remarkable really that we were able to come out and win a couple games (in each tournament).”

The ailments had piled up, with a pitching staff reduced by injuries, shortstop Tanner Marsh limping around all week, Blake Marsh dealing with a sore wrist and catcher Alex Martinez hampered by a bashed finger.

Yet the most unpredictable development involved Post 45’s Trey Way, who had played five positions in the field across the first three days of the regional and was slated to be the catcher Saturday. Hours before the game, Way became ill because of an allergic reaction. He was held out of the lineup and then departed during the second rain delay for additional care.

Even with that, it started well for Post 45. Randolph County scored two runs before the first out, beginning the game with three singles and notching the first run on a wild pitch. Cole drove in a run with a single, but Hayes was thrown out at the plate on the play. Martinez roped a two-out, two-run single and Tyler Parks followed with an RBI single.

A 9-minute rain delay preceded starting pitcher Robert Garner throwing his first pitch in the bottom of the inning. Wilmington’s Logan Ponnett hammered a two-run homer in the bottom of the first before an out was recorded. After five Post 10 batters took their turns, there was a 53-minute halt.

The frame ended with a 5-3 score and Wilmington leaving the bases loaded.

Connor Kane’s grand slam on an 0-2 pitch from Garner with two outs in the bottom of the second inning gave Wilmington its first lead. Post 10 scored in every inning, with Post 45 using three pitchers but none could slow down Wilmington’s 14-hit barrage.

“We came in here lacking pitching,” Hayes said.

Still, Post 45 was stacked. There were veteran players along with newcomers Hayes and Way, who were standouts on Randleman’s second consecutive Class 2-A state championship team from the high school season. North Carolina recruit Tyler Parks was available for the postseason, Blake Marsh and Tatum Marsh had been in college programs, and Pugh could field a team with all-star credentials at about every position.

“We won 30-some games,” Pugh said. “Stuff hit at times. Maybe we were a couple of arms short.”

Blake Marsh and Cole both had two hits in the finale.

Much of the core of the team is eligible to return. Players have called it a positive experience.

“I loved it,” Hayes said of American Legion baseball. “Every second was fun for me.”

Saturday’s results

Wilmington 15, Randolph County 5 (Randolph County eliminated)

Rock Hill, S.C. vs. Camden, S.C., delayed

Post 45 coaches at states

Problems pile up on Post 45 in first regional loss

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Randolph County Post 45 coaches Ryan Hill, left, Ronnie Pugh and Andrew Conner will need a plan to win three more games in the Southeast Regional. (File photo)

Randolph County needs turnaround to extend season

ASHEBORO — It didn’t start well for Randolph County Post 45. Then it got worse Friday night.

Yet if there’s a good omen for the host team in Southeast Regional for American Legion baseball, things are bound to get better this weekend.

Or else the season will come to a disheartening conclusion.

“It’s an eye-opener,” Post 45 catcher Alex Martinez said after the 12-7 loss to Camden (S.C.) Post 17 at McCrary Park. “We have to come play and play harder. Need a lot more energy.”

The eight-team field in the double-elimination tournament has been cut in half, with only Camden with an unblemished mark.

Post 45 (31-12) meets North Carolina state champion Wilmington Post 10 in Saturday’s 4:30 p.m. elimination game. Camden, which is guaranteed of advancing to Sunday, takes on South Carolina state champion Rock Hill Post 34 in Saturday night’s nightcap.

Randolph County pitchers gave up 15 hits and five walks and were dinged by the team’s three fielding errors.

“A couple errors lead to more errors,” Martinez said. “Things started to fall apart. Not a lot of energy going on.”

The miscues extended to offense. Three Randolph County innings ended with base-running blunders.

“I don’t think I want to really replay that one,” Post 45 manager Ronnie Pugh said of the game. “When we’re on, we’re good. But we were sure bad (in this game).”

Camden scored two unearned first-inning runs. By the time Post 17 put on a third-inning hitting clinic to score five runs, it was 8-1.

“I felt they swung the bats really well and they were hitting it,” starting pitcher Tatum Marsh said. “We’ll learn from it.”

Trey Way, Connor Adams, Drew Harmon and Braylen Hayes were also used on the mound, with only Adams, who worked one inning, going unscored upon.

Yet Post 45 racked up 11 hits, with Tatum Marsh, Blake Marsh, Adam Cole and Josh Meadows all recording two.

Randolph County got on the board on Tatum Marsh’s two-out single in the second. Cole stroked an RBI double in the third.

Post 45 closed within 10-5 on Tyler Parks’ two-out, two-run single in the fifth. A wild pitch resulted in another run.

Adams worked into and out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth without yielding a run.

In the bottom of the inning, Tanner Marsh’s sacrifice fly with the bases loaded made it 10-7, but that’s all Post 45 got when Cole lined out to right end to end the threat.

Randolph County and Wilmington didn’t meet in last week’s state tournament.

Friday’s results

Rock Hill, S.C. 7, Belleview, Fla. 3 (Belleview eliminated)

Wilmington 18, Evans, Ga. 0 (Evans eliminated)

Camden, S.C. 12, Randolph County 7

Braylen Hayes bats for Post 45

Hayes caps Post 45 drama in late-night Southeast Regional win

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Braylen Hayes had the final hit for Randolph County Post 45 in its extra-inning victory against Evans (Ga.) in the Southeast Regional. (File photo)

ASHEBORO – Braylen Hayes wanted the chance to end Thursday night’s game in the Southeast Regional.

The Randolph County Post 45 center fielder didn’t miss on that.

“It works at the end, that’s all that matters,” Hayes said. “I knew (it was the winning hit) because Blake (Marsh) can move pretty good. He’s going to score.”

Hayes belted a double off the wall in left field with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowing Marsh to score from first base with the winning run in the 3-2 victory against Evans (Ga.) Post 192 in American Legion baseball at McCrary Park.

“He said (before going to the plate) that this game was over,” Post 45 manager Ronnie Pugh said of Hayes. “He didn’t say how.”

Randolph County (31-11) will meet Camden (S.C.) Post 17 at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the winners’ bracket. They’re the two remaining undefeated teams.

Until the game reached extra innings, it was another showcase for Post 45’s Tanner Marsh, who has hobbled around the field for two games and produced an alarming rate.

Hampered by an ailing left hamstring, he has come through at the plate and in the field.

“Sometimes you just have to push through,” Tanner Marsh said. “I’ll play all week.”

He drove in Randolph County’s first two runs and ended up as the winning pitcher with three innings of relief.

“He always steps up,” Pugh said. “You can’t get him out of the lineup. He told me today to throw away my eraser.”

Pugh adjusted the initial lineup configuration a bit, moving Tanner Marsh to third base rather than shortstop so any mobility issues would be less of a factor. Trey Way, an established shortstop who was the catcher Wednesday night, took the shortstop spot.

In the eighth, Blake Marsh reached on a one-out infield single. Then it was Hayes’ turn and he smacked his first hit of the regional for the most dramatic conclusion so far in the regional.

“Sometimes you have to win one like that,” Pugh said.

Hayes said it was his first walk-off hit in recent memory in this type of situation. During the past high school season, any walk-off hit for Randleman came in a mercy-rule situation.

Post 45 starting pitcher Blake Marsh made it through four innings. Just seconds after he dodged a bases-loaded jam to end the top of the fourth, umpires halted play for what became a 62-minute lightning delay.

Post 45 scored in the second inning when Hayes walked and later scored on Tanner Marsh’s sacrifice fly. Randolph County got its second run in the fourth, with a couple of misplayed fly balls resulting in the run.

Tyler Parks took over for Randolph County on the mound and yielded a fifth-inning run on Matthew Roa’s run-scoring double.

On the next batter, left fielder Adam Cole’s sliding catch of Chesney Lepard’s line drive toward the gap notched the second out and prevented the tying run from scoring.

Tanner Marsh went to the mound with two runners on base and no outs in the sixth. He worked out of the mess and the Post 45 lead stood at 2-1.

Evans put a runner on second with no outs in the seventh. Charlie Bussey came around from second base to score on a groundout. If he had been out at the plate, the game would have ended.

Tatum Marsh had two of Post 45’s eight hits.

Thursday’s scores

Wilmington 9, Owensboro, Ky. 4 (Owensboro eliminated)

Rock Hill, S.C. 11, Columbia, Tenn. 3 (Columbia eliminated)

Camden, S.C. 9, Belleview, Fla. 7

Randolph County 3, Evans, Ga. 2, 8 innings

Grant Little photo Post 45 file photo

Little comes up big as Post 45 pulls out victory in Southeast Regional opener

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Grant Little’s return to action turned out to be timely for Randolph County Post 45. (File photo)

ASHEBORO – The game barely started and Randolph County Post 45 needed big help in the Southeast Regional.

That came from Grant Little, who hadn’t pitched in more than a month.

Little calmed things down for Post 45 before the offense caused commotion in what became a 14-8 victory against Rock Hill (S.C.) Post 34 in the nightcap of the first day of the American Legion regional Wednesday night at McCrary Park.

“We realize what we’re playing for,” Post 45 shortstop Tanner Marsh said.

Little gave up one run across 3 2/3 innings – until a misplayed pop-up on the first batter after he was lifted resulted in two more runs. But what Little accomplished was big by putting a halt to Rock Hill’s momentum and allowing the Post 45 bats to finally get going.

Post 45 (30-11), which rallied from a five-run deficit, plays again at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Evans (Ga.) Post 192 in a winners bracket game of the five-day, double-elimination event.

The offensive highlights were numerous. Josh Meadows drove in four runs, Blake Marsh and Tanner Marsh both rapped three hits and Adam Cole was on base five times and scored three runs – just to list a few.

Little, though, turned out to supply perhaps the most clutch performance. The Uwharrie Charter Academy player had been nursing a sore labrum that put him on the sideline.

“I didn’t know how long I was going to be out,” he said. “I wasn’t even expecting to pitch (in this game).”

Post 45 manager Ronnie Pugh said Little threw in the bullpen a couple of times in last week’s state tournament.

“You just think the opportunity might come for him,” Pugh said. “That opportunity came and look what he did with it.”

A seven-run fifth inning gave Post 45 a lead for the first time.

“We kept the faith,” Tanner Marsh said. “The coaches kept telling us we just need base runners.”

Randolph County went ahead on Meadows’ two-run single with one out. Tyler Parks followed with a two-run triple. By the time the uprising was complete, Post 45 held a 9-5 lead.

“We just didn’t give up,” said Meadows, who broke out of a slump. “I was told once you find it, it’s going to feel amazing. I was just missing the pitches I wanted and (Wednesday night) I finally fulfilled it. It felt amazing.”

Trey Way had two singles in the fifth.

Randolph County kept going in the sixth. Cole sliced an RBI single and Meadows knocked in a run with a ground-rule double before Tatum Marsh’s groundout resulted in another run.

With a run in the seventh, Post 45 scored in the final five innings.

“We wait until later to turn it on at the offensive end,” Little said.

There was a different tone set earlier when Rock Hill, the South Carolina state champion, poured on four first-inning runs against Robert Garner. Josh Wimmer’s lead-off homer in the second against Little made it 5-0 before – from Post 45’s perspective – order was restored.

The offense had quite a bit to do with it as well. In the state tournament, Post 45 managed a total of 16 runs in four games before nearly matching that in the regional opener.

“We had clutch base hits,” Pugh said. “We finally got people on with no outs or one out. I thought we showed a lot of discipline.”

Wednesday’s scores

Camden, S.C. 10, Owensboro, Ky. 0

Evans, Ga. 5, Columbia, Tenn. 0

Belleview, Fla. 8, Wilmington 5

Randolph County 14, Rock Hill, S.C. 8

Post 45 Robert Garner pitches in state tourney2022

Post 45 aims to make it to weekend

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Randolph County Post 45 pitcher Robert Garner is bound to be called upon for a critical role during the Southeast Regional for American Legion baseball. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

Southeast Regional provides array of challenges for Randolph County

ASHEBORO – In order for Randolph County Post 45 to be playing this weekend when the remaining teams have dwindled in the Southeast Regional of American Legion baseball, there are bound to be several key factors.

Post 45 manager Ronnie Pugh has tried to develop pitching depth, something that became a challenge at times when the team’s schedule was either spread out or — during a stretch late in the regular season and early in the Area 3 playoffs — when games were forfeited or reduced to five innings by the mercy rule.

“A lot of times we do matchups,” Pugh said. “We have a lot of position players who pitch.”

Post 45 has counted on several pitchers for clutch duty on the mound. One of them is Robert Garner, who has been strictly a pitcher.

Post 45 is bound to need more stellar pitching from Garner, who delivered with 6 1/3 shutout innings in a game in last week’s state tournament.

“I’ve been throwing good up here (with Post 45),” Garner said. “It’s the exact same stuff I did in high school.”

He graduated from North Moore in the spring and is heading to play baseball for Wake Tech. For North Moore, he gained Class 1-A Pitcher of the Year accolades from the North Carolina Baseball Coaches Association, so he has credentials that could boost Post 45 if the team is able to extend its stay in the regional.

Garner is a second-year player with Post 45, though Pugh said with Garner coming through the group’s junior program he had been on the radar.

“He loves to play,” Pugh said.

So does left fielder Adam Cole, who’s a second-year player for Post 45.

Left fielder Adam Cole of Randolph County Post 45 will be busy this week during the Southeast Regional. He also plays football for Southwestern Randolph, with practice beginning this week. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

Cole has an interesting workload in terms of athletics. He’s a record-setting football player for Southwestern Randolph, with official practices having started Monday across the state.

Cole said he won’t be a regular participant in football practices if Post 45 is playing on the same day. That’s the case for Wednesday and Thursday, and it’s possible at times during the week that Randolph County could be playing at the same time as the Cougars are holding football practices.

“I won’t do both on the same day, but I can go out to the practice,” Cole said.

He said he has put in time regarding football in recent weeks.

“I’ve been going out to the field on my own and working out,” Cole said. “After the last couple of years, I’ve pretty much memorized the playbook.”

State champion Wilmington Post 10 is also in the Southeast Regional field. Randolph County and Wilmington didn’t meet in the state tournament.

When games begin Wednesday, the other teams include South Carolina champion Rock Hill Post 34, South Carolina runner-up Camden Post 17, Georgia champion Evans Post 192, Kentucky champion Owensboro Post 9, Florida champion Belleview Post 284 and Tennessee champion Columbia Post 19.

The double-elimination regional is set to wrap up Sunday. There’s a potential title game at 1:30 p.m., with an “if necessary” game at 4:30 p.m. After four games slated for Wednesday and Thursday, there are three game slots on Friday’s schedule and two more Saturday.

The regional winner advances to the American Legion World Series, which takes place next week in Shelby.

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