Post 58 Qualifies For State Tournament

Coleman-Pitt Post 58 will be heading to Asheboro next weekend but it will not be to visit the State Zoo. They beat Kinston again tonight 9-5 and swept the series and in doing so qualify to return to the state tournament for the second year in a row.

Weekend warrior Hobbs Johnson home for the weekend after this week at summer school at Carolina went the first five innings and left the game leading 6-3. He allowed six hits,walked three batters and struck out six. He picks up the win . Trellis Ashley pitched two scoreless innings and Bill Clark pitched two but he gave up two runs in the ninth.

All Nine starters collect at least one hit with Thomas Berry leading the way with three hits and four rbi's. Spencer Bell, Matthew Berry and Mike Smith had two each. T J Taylor had a hit with an rbi, Kyle Norville a double with two rbi's. Cameron Ramsey, Parker Helms and Tyler Clark reached base at least once with a hit.

Post 58 out hit Post 43 14-12. Post 58 put up three in the first. Scored once in the second and twice in the third to lead six nothing. Post 43 scratched one across in the fourth and two in the fifth to finish the night for Johnson.

Rocky Mount push another run across in the six and scored twice in the eighth to stretch the lead to 9-3 until Kinston scored twice in the ninth.

Rocky Mount even though they have qualified for the state tournament they still have the East title left starting Monday at either Cary or home against Clayton. What it amounts two they are playing for the #1 seed in the East which would throw them against a#2 seed from one of the other areas next weekend in their first game so the series next week is big for seedings in the state tournament.

This marks the second straight year Post 58 has made it to the double elimination State Tournament. Tonights win is number 22 on the season and they have yet to lose in the playoffs which is now at seven games.

Rocky Mount pitching in this series walked only seven batters in three games. Before tonight Kinston had walked 22 in two games and did not walk a batter tonight. Lead off batter Spencer Bell got hit in the bottom of the first was the only free pass tonight.

AsheBoro here we come Rocky Mount 9- Kinston 5

How Good Could They Be?

You hear this all the time from coaches. We need to keep the best players home. The college ranks hate to lose a top player from any North Carolina high school to Georgia or Florida State.

This is also true in local sports. This is the second summer in a row that Post 58 American Legion team from Rocky Mount is putting on a big push to make its second straight trip to the state baseball tournament.

Last season the trip to Greenville was a short one losing two straight one runs games in the double elimination tournament. If Post 58 can win tonight’s game before Kinston wins three they will return to this years tournament in Asheboro.

If you ask yourself the question, is this area a baseball area ? There is no doubt the answer is yes. Little league state titles,Babe Ruth titles and high school titles this area has had it share this last decade.

Whether legion can add a state title is to be seen. Legion has a rule that no player can play for two teams while playing legion. It is ok during the regular season but when the playoffs start you not eligible for legion playoffs.

Looking back at last year and comparing the two legion teams I think last years club was a better hitting team. This years is slightly better pitching. Both years we didn’t have all the best players in the area playing legion. Could we have won the state title last year if we did? Probably! Can we win it all with the team we have this year? Maybe! If we had all the area’s best players could we win it this year? Probably!

It is amazing with all the distraction players have these days that any of them want to spend their summers playing ball. Since sometime around May 25th Post 58 has played 26 games. That is about every other day. An away game puts you on the road by 3.00pm and in some cases midnight before returning home. Theses guys have to love it to want to do it this way during the summer. This doesn’t count practice time on days off.

I wish every player who is good enough to play legion would. Our high schools have talented players. When we put them all on the same team Nash County Legion is as good as it gets. We need them all to play for us not down the road.

Tonight Coleman Pitt Post 58 can punch it’s second straight ticket to the State Tournament. Yes there is one more series to go before the state tournament but both teams are in. Going into tonight Cary the team we beat last year leads Clayton two games to one. That series could end tonight also.

There was a nice crowd on hand Tuesday night. When you win and the games are important more people show up because you are winning and they are curious to see just how good you really are. If Post 58 wins tonight you will only have a chance to see this team once more in Rocky Mount. Who ever they play from the Raleigh area, that is a two out of three to be played in two days. Next weekend is the big show and that is in Asheboro.