Legion Baseball

I have been involved with Coleman-Pitt Post 58 baseball now for four years. I have volunteered as the PA man during that time.


From about 1961 through 1965, I was bat boy for the Ahoskie American Legion team and our trips to Rocky Mount to play at the old Municipal stadium was like going to a major league game for me as a 10-year-old.

Legion baseball has been in existence in Rocky Mount for 60 years. In those 60years, Legion baseball has been among the best in the state.

Legion is now not the only game in town during the summer. Travel leagues, select leagues, Impact Baseball leagues and Babe Ruth are all sucking the All-Star talent from what use to be Legion players.

The past several years Post 58 has not had a home base to play home games. It would really help attendance if everyone knew where the games were going to be. You always have to check the schedule to see where to go for a home game, but also to see where the game is going to be play. Even the Rocky Mount Sports Complex is not a good fit for Legion.

But, today I am not moaning about what could be if the Brian Goodwins and Hobbs Johnsons of the county were on this team. This story today is going a little deeper than what you might know of.

Our Legionnaires are dying out. Post 58 is made up mostly of World War II veterans. In August, that war will have been over 64 years. Post 58 is getting smaller in numbers which means less people in the Post to support baseball.

Today, the players are pretty much financing themselves to play Legion ball.

Joe Bell, who is not even a Legionnaire, has taken it upon himself last year and this to try to keep Legion Ball alive. Joe has sold ads for a small program that you can get at the games.

Thursday night there were about 40 people - just about all mamas and papas there to see the game. The gate receipts just could pay for the umpires. The lights and grounds crew were paid. We will just say they were paid out of someone’s pocket.

Legion baseball in Rocky Mount has been too good over the years to see it die the slow death that it is doing now.

This year’s team is really good. They may have a chance to go far in the state playoffs. If they make it to the state championships this year, they will played at ECU's Clark-LeClair Stadium.

They only have two regular season home games left this year Monday and Thursday night at Northern Nash. Then maybe several home playoff games.

Come see this team play. Legion ball may die in Nash County unless a person or organization takes an interest in keeping it alive. It will take more than Bell and and a couple of Legionnaires to keep Legion Ball alive in Rocky Mount.

Long Night

Last night I arrived at Northern Nash's baseball field to do the PA for Post 58 American Legion team and a 13 year of Babe Ruth game is in progress. My first thought is 'am I at the right field?'. The score board was saying the first inning.

It turns out it was where I was suppose to be, the score board was on for the Legion game. The Babe Ruth game got over a little after seven and by the time each team took infield and raked the infield it was 7.45.

Wilson Post 13 was undefeated in conference play as well as Post 58 and Post 58 starting pitcher Brandon Denton gives up a single and a home run to the first two batters and I am saying to myself 'brother this will be a long night'. Denton recovered pitched eight innings allowing just seven hits striking out seven and did not allow another run in leading Coleman Pitt Post 58 to a 12-2 victory over Wilson Post 13.

Even though they started late Post 58 is in sole possession of first place with a 3-0 conference mark and now 5-1 overall.

Ben Fish led the hitting attack going three for four driving home three runs and had a homer. Collins Cuthrell had three RBI's and two hits and also sent one over the fence. Tyler Clark had two hits and two RBI's. Also getting two hits was Alex Pearce who's double in the eighth inning sent the score to the ten run rule.

Mike Williams, Grant Johnson and Gabe Brown all reach base getting hits as Post 58 has put up forty runs in the last two nights and in their last three games all conference games have pushed 55 runs across the plate.

So by ending the game in the eighth inning the long night winds up finishing about when the nine inning game would have finished.

Post 58 can't sit on their laurels long as starting tonight they have four straight nights of conference games traveling to Ahoskie, Wilson and Edenton on the road and then a Monday night home game with Ahoskie.

The team with the best pitching in the college world series got two inning of terrible pitching giving up four runs in the sixth and eight in the seventh in losing to Arizona State 12-5.

Carolina is eliminated from the College World Series.

Heard last night at the Legion game talking to Northern's baseball coach Eddie Loesner that Tyler Joyner will not sign and play pro baseball. He is already in Summer school at ECU.

I had heard the rumor but now I know that Mike Williams will play at Pitt Community this fall.

Now There Are Five

Virginia did everything you could ask a team except win the game Wednesday as they are eliminated from the College World Series 4-3 in twelve innings.

The Cavaliers leading 3-1 had two outs and nobody on base and two strikes in the ninth inning failed to close the deal on Arkansas. Virginia proceeded to get two men on base with less than two outs in the ninth, tenth and eleventh inning and failed to score what could have been the winning run.

Tonight North Carolina goes into their second elimination game and it is against the team that beat them Sunday in Arizona State. Game time is 7.00pm.

Because of the aluminum bat in college baseball, college baseball is not dominated by pitching. In this college world series North Carolina had a pitched game by Alex White of allowing only one run through nine innings and Virginia gave up one run through eight and two thirds innings but lost. That is very unusual for College baseball. Most of the time if you give up only one you win easily.

The rumors abound about Phil Jackson retiring as the L A Lakers coach and the name of Coach K is popping up as his replacement. In 2004 coach K turned down the job to stay at Duke and during that five years since nothing much has changed for Coach K to want to be in LA, however there is a new reason in LA to have coach K and that's Kobe Bryant. Remember last summer Kobe was a member of the Olympic team coached by K and Kobe has said he likes K's style a lot.

We will see.

Tonight Coleman Pitt Post 58 will try to play another home game, this time at Northern Nash. Wilson will be here to provide the action. Rain is in the forecast. I haven't heard yet the results of last night's game in Tarboro. My guess is it got rained out which would be the third time that Tarboro and Coleman Pitt have been washed out.

Just receive word from Joe bell that Post 58 indeed did play last night at whipped up on Tarboro 28-3. That's right 28-3 in seven innings.

There use to be a time that if you were the top baseball player in the area legion ball was what you did in the summer. Today with select leagues, Babe Ruth and others the legion team is watered down from what it could be.

This years legion team is good but just imagine if every good player from our area was on the team we might have a Legion State championship team.

I'll be there tonight doing PA weather permitting.

Cox Named New Baseball Coach

Kent Cox JV Baseball coach at Rocky Mount for the past ten years has been named as the new baseball coach at Rocky Mount High School.

Cox a graduate of Tarboro High school lead the Babe Ruth team in 2004 that finished 3rd in the World Series that was played in Wilson at Fleming stadium. Kent has also been for the past six years the JV football defensive coordinator during the Baby Gryphons run where they lost less than ten games in that stretch.

Cox will take over for Pat Smith who retired at the end of the school year who has taken the Gryphons to the state title in 2008.

Kent’s family consist of wife Emily, daughter and a new little Gryphon expected to arrive this Friday.

North Carolina survived the first elimination game in the college world series by beating Southern Mississippi 11-4. Dustin Ackley needed three hits to become the all time hit leader in world series history got five in leading the Heels to another day of baseball Thursday night. They will play Arizona State who blew a 6-0 lead and lost to Texas 10-6.

Southern Mississippi getting knocked out leaves six fighting for the National Championship.

Sammy Sosa's name has now come out as being a steroid users in 2003. I think we all knew that he used. It's time to release all the names of the 2004 testing done by major league baseball that failed. The test in 2004 showed that 10% of the players were using drugs and brought on the MLB drug testing policy that they use today.

I think we need to know just so the player who didn't have a fair shake at the Hall of Fame with lesser numbers over those who did.

Elimination Day

The University of North Carolina Tar Heel baseball team faces elimination for the first time this year in the NCAA playoffs. Carolina swept through their Regional and then took out ECU in two straight in the super regional.

This afternoon they meet Southern Mississippi a team that had Texas on the ropes in their first college world series game but walked in three runs in the eighth and ninth inning to lose by one run.

Virginia survived their first elimination game beating Cal State Fullerton 7-5. Now there are seven left in Omaha. They play Arkansas Wednesday.

Hertford County has named their new football coach. He is Scott Privott. Scott played on the last Ahoskie High school team before it became Hertford County. Scott was on the team while I was there doing radio and after graduation from college came back home and has been in the program either with the JV's or the Varsity line ever since.

He replaces Diego Hasty who lost his PE job as part of the cut back in teachers but was asked to stay on as football coach but didn't.

Plaxico Buress has had his discharging a fire arms charge in New York City moved to September. Seems to me he would have wanted to settle up as soon as possible in case he gets jail time. Delaying it not only will effect this season but now maybe even next year also depending on whether he gets jail time

I hear that Walker Gurley the Eastern Wayne shortstop who was drafted last week in the major league draft is planning to sign and play pro ball. He may sign sometime this week. His teammate John Wooten is heading to Greenville and ECU along with Tyler Joyner of Northern. Those players drafted last week are still in contact with the teams that drafted them. Those teams have until mid August to try to Entice those players drafted to sign pro over going to college baseball.

In most cases those that sign to play pro ball will do so over the next couple of weeks in order to play in the rookie leagues or in the A level this summer.

Comings and Goings

John Thompson head basketball coach at N C Wesleyan has a new job title. He is now Vice President of Athletics. John will still be the basketball coach at NCW

Speaking of Wesleyan I heard at the Legion game Sunday that Brian Allen former Southern Nash baseball stand out who for the last two years has played at Pitt CC will finish his last two years of college at Wesleyan. He joins Chad Womble former Rocky Mount grad and Tyler Clark Northern Nash catcher who will join the Fighting Bishops next season.

Already in the fold for Charlie Long are several Northern Nash players Daniel Moore and Andrew Webb and others as Charlie is beginings to keep local high school talent in Rocky Mount.

The LA Lakers won their 15th NBA title last night beating a Orlando team that looked like they didn't want to go to LA and lose so they decided to end it last night.

La has won enough titles that you would think that the general public would not have to tear a city a part. More than twenty five people were arrested setting bon fires and general car destruction. Funny that the cars set a fire to are never the people's cars setting the fires.

Phil Jackson won his tenth NBA title as a coach. I can't decide whether Jackson is a good coach or lucky. He won six titles with Michael Jordon, three with Shaq and now one with Kobe. He passes Red Aurabach who won nine titles with Bill Russell. Russell was and still is the greatest defensive player in the history of basketball.

One thing you can say for Red and Phil. They didn't get in the great players way.

Norrth Carolina plays Southern Mississippi at 2.00pm Tuesday in the losers bracket game at the college world series. Southern Mississippi had Texas on the ropes until SMU relief pitching walked in three runs in the eighth and ninth innings.

Heels fall Into Losers Bracket

D H Conley's Alex White may have saved his best two starts of his career, might wind up being his last two starts for the Tar Heels. White pitched nine innings of seven hit ball striking out twelve Sun Devils which tied his record set just last weekend but when he left the game having pitched nine inning the score was tied 1-1.

A miss play in the field and a three run homer in the tenth send Carolina to the losers bracket after a 5-2 loss to Arizona State. Now in the losers bracket Alex White may not get the chance to pitch again for the Tar Heels unless his team mates fight through and don't lose again until it Alex's turn to pitch again maybe Friday.

Carolina plays Tuesday at 2.0opm in the losers bracket game at 2.00pm.

Coleman Pitt Post 58 opened their conference play this afternoon at Bauer Field on the campus of N C Wesleyan and took out Edenton Post 40 15-6.

After having played a double header in Cary yesterday and splitting the two games Post 58 brought their hit bats to the game today pounding out 18 hits lead by Mike Williams who had four hits in six trips and three rbi's. Tyler Clark and Alex Pearce had two hits each with Clark collecting a rbi and Pearce two ribbies.

Nick Hahula pitched the first four innings giving up two runs on six hits. Bill Clark came in the fifth gave up four runs but settled down and pitched three shutout inning after that to get the win.. Mike Williams closed out the ninth for Post 58.

Post 58 is now 3-2 and 1-0 in conference play. Their next game is Wednesday night at Tarboro. Their next home game is Thursday at Northern Nash against Wilson Post 13.

Heard today at the Legion game that Cameron Ramsey tried out for Wake Tech who will field their first ever baseball team next year and made the team.

There is a possibility tha Xavier Macklin will play Legion before the season is over. Right now he is on the Wilson Tobs team.

Tyler Joyner was named New-6 baseball player of the year.

Ben Fish, Collins Cuthrell, Hobbs Johnson and Brian Goodwin made all conference from Rocky Mount.