Post 58 Clinches Title

Coleman Pitt Post 58 needed tonight's win to take home first place in eastern division of American Legion Baseball. It took no more than the third batter of the game to get the ball rolling.

Xavier Macklin who has spent the last month playing for the Wilson Tobs joined Post 58 today which is the last day until playoff rosters are turned in. Macklin first at bat he sent a line drive down the left field line which was ruled fair and a home run gave post 58 a 2-0 lead over Tarboro Post 316. Leading off the third inning Macklin launched a drive that cleared the scoreboard at Northern Nash. Batting again in the third X hit a majestic fly ball high and deep in the left center gap that was caught by the center fielder leaning on the wall.

Tarboro pitching walked 11 batters and Post 316 defense committed six errors. This put ducks on the pond every inning and Coleman Pitt Post 58 slams Tarboro Post 316 26-1 in seven innings.

Macklin went three for five with four RBI's. Ben Fish was 2-4 with a homer and three RBI's and reach base six times.. Tyler Clark had two hits and a RBI. Mike Smith did not play the first half of the game but still collected two singles in four at bats. Gabe Brown had a triple and a single with a run batted in. Mike Williams had only one hit but it left the park giving him two rbi's. Collins Cuthrell,and Alex Pearce had singles.

Tonight closes out the regular season for Post 58. They finish at 8-2 overall and 7-1 in division play. Having started late due to the Northern Nash playoff run and coach Matt Bryan assisting coaching Eastern Wayne in the State championships Post 58 made their opposition pay as they tried to score runs for the games they didn't play. Post 58 scored 129 run in eight division games a whopping 16.2 runs per game. In the ten regular season games Coleman Pitt hit twenty home runs.

Brandon Denton pitched the first three innings by design as coach Matt Bryan had decided to give everyone a chance tonight to pitch an he almost did. Bill Clark pitched the fourth and fifth. T J Taylor the sixth and Alex Pearce got two outs in the seventh when Ben Fish came on to get the save HA HA. He struck out the only batter he face in pitching for the first time since he was in high school.

This is a really good Legion team that can go far in the playoffs. I would have no problem at all saying if this team had Tyler Joyner and Hobbs Johnson pitching they would be odds on favorites to win the state American Legion title.

Even without them they are going to go farther than any Post 58 team in quite a while. But when they finally lose out it will be because they don't have enough pitching against some team that is going to shut down our hitting.

Playoffs start Wednesday night at Northern Nash. It will be a two out of three first round.

Come watch this team play. They are fun to watch!

Legion Ball and NBA Draft Tonight

Tonight Coleman Pitt Post 58 American Legion team will go for the regular season title in the eastern division. A victory would give Post 58 home field advantage during the 1st round of the playoffs. The first round is a two out of three and if today all games were in the books we will start with Greenville Post 160. However that might change by weeks end.

Game time is 7.00pm at Northern Nash and Tarboro is the tonight’s opponent. Last week Post 58 beat Tarboro 28-3 at Tarboro.

1st round of the playoffs start July 1st at home and July 3rd will also be a home game if needed. The first round has to be finished by July 4th so hopefully no baseball on the fourth unless rain intercedes.

The second round is a three out of five would start July 6th.

Tonight is also the NBA Draft. Here are my thoughts on some of the locals.

Tyler Hansbrough- North Carolina… I don’t believe Tyler will ever be an all star in the NBA. I do think that fifteen years from now when he announces his retirement you will say. He was a good NBA player.

Ty Lawson- North Carolina… Ty is the mystery man in this draft. I doubt whether he will last any longer than his three year contract. Can’t play defense, too short.

Gerald Henderson- Duke.. I’m still trying to figure out why he is going pro early. Not a great shooter, not a great ball handler, Sounds like an NBA first rounder to me. Will play along time in Europe.

Courtney Fells- N C State… I think Fells has the NBA game. Maybe not an all star but a serviceable player. He may not be drafted but will make somebody’s team.

Wayne Ellington-North Carolina… Maybe best Carolina player for the NBA this year he will be an all star.

Danny Green-North Carolina… will probably start out in Europe But I think he will make it some day in the NBA.

Jeff Teague-Wake Forest… Is a super star waiting to happen in about three years? He is leaving two years early.

James Johnson Wake Forest…. His style is the NBA Style. Will be a very good NBA player for a long time.

Stephan Curry- Davidson…. There are guys cut out to be college players and some molded for the NBA. Great college player, but at six feet two inches he will need to be a point guard. Ball handling is not part of his game. He will be in the NBA at least for three years because he will be a high pick. He will get a lot of money for little results in the NBA.

I have no crystal ball to gaze into so who knows what the results will be.