Night Cap A Barn Burner

Post 58 has proven so far this year that they love playing in Gryphon Stadium.  They are 7-0 outscoring their foes 70-27.  That's an average win of 10-4 per game.  Road games they are now 6-4 after defeating Edenton in a doubleheader tonight 15-5 in game one..  P58 scored 4 in the sixth inning and added seven more in the seventh to secure the victory.  Game two saw P 58 jump out to a 3-1 lead but by the 7th inning Edenton held a 5-4 advantage.  Post 58 scored once and held Edenton to send the game into extra innings. Finally plating a run in the 10th Post 58 won their seventh game in a row sweeping Edenton in the night cap 6-5.  P58 has not lost since they took the week off for graduation and are 7-0 since.  It gives them a 13-4 record for the season.  

Tonight while P58 was playing game one of their doubleheader with Edenton Khalil Macklin was being interviewed on Ch 5 sports. He is one of only a few North Carolina players in Cary trying to make the U18 National team.You can go on line on WRAL.com  and see it if you missed it during the Sunday news..  Nice Job Khalil.

I think this years team is better than last year but not as good as either team that made the state tournament in the past few years.  I would also like to point out that even Rocky Mount High's State Championship Baseball team is 2008.  I thought both the 2007 and 2009 teams were better but they didn't win the championship.  Comparing one year to the next is hard because we don't know what anybody else across the state has compared to what they have been in the past.

I see in the Rocky Mount Telegram today that former North Edgecombe basketball player Montrezl Harrell was a member  the USA U18 basketball team that won the World Championships in Brazil.  NC Wesleyan Coach John Thompson was one of the coaches on that team.  There is a segment of people who say that we put too much emphasis on sports  but how many people have ever been able to go on a trip to Brazil.  Talk about learning something.  Sports can be very important education tool when used properly.

This area sure has had a run in recent years of athletes going on to bigger and better things beyond high school.  Harrell is heading to Louisville to play Big East basketball, Xavier Macklin playing pro baseball in the minors for Oakland A's. Brian Goodwin in the minors of the Washington Nationals. Andrew Morales starting for Duke soccer will be a sophomore this year.  Both Benton Moss and Hobbs Johnson playing baseball at Carolina.  Tyler Joyner making an impact at ECU on the baseball diamond. Ben Fish  at Campbell.  That is just a few on those that have reached beyond the Twin Counties.

Strangle Hold

Tonight Coleman Pitt Post 58 has put a strangle hold on first place in  the Area 1 Northern Division of  Eastern North Carolina American Legion baseball.  P 58 beat Wilson Post 13 for the second time this season  6-4.  The victory gives Coleman Pitt and 8-1 conference record while that is the fourth conference loss for P13.

There is an old saying always be ready for you never know when your chance comes up and tonight Tyler King found out after the lineup cards  had already been sent to the other dugout that he was pitching.  He hit the opening batter of the game Corey Nygard who scored before the inning was up.  Post 13 was a gracious visitor tonight as P 58 scored 4 times in the first after P13 committed 4errors.

King would get into the sixth inning before he was relieved by Cam Webb and King left the game leading 6-3.  Webb would give up a run in his 1.2 innings and Jeremy Trevathan shut the door on P 13 with the final two innngs  of scoreless baseball.

Post 13 out hit CP 58 12-6 but they also made more errors 6-1  and P58 took advantage of every extra batter.  Jay Aparicio tripled in a run for one of his two hits.  Matthew Berry's first of two hits drove home a run.  Jeremy Lucas and Tyler Wooten collect the other P 58 hits.

Post 13 had several players with at least two hits. Logan Butts was 3-5.  Then Corey Nygard had two singles, Spencer Boykin two, Charlie Vaughn two hits, and Nathan Boykin two.

Post 58 plays  two Sunday afternoon at 5PM at Edenton.They have six conference games left and three  non conference games to go in the season which ends on July 5th.  They play at Johnston County Tuesday and are home Wednesday against Johnston County.  P 58 has now won five games in a row and stand at 11-4 on the season.

Khalil Macklin missed tonight's game  as he was invited to complete for a spot on Team USA U18 team which invited 50 players from around the country to the USA Baseball complex in Cary

Dumb Luck Or What?

We might have been disappointed when we heard the news that Friday night's Legion game with Wilson had been moved to Saturday night.  Now with 20-20 hindsight with us the weather outside would have washed the game out any way.   The weather forecast is much better for Saturday night so expect to see you at the Legion game when Post 58 Host Wilson Post 13 7PM.


Everyone can get off his back now as LeBron has won his first NBA title.  You have to give him credit since about the sixth game against the Celtics he's been playing like a man in a different body.  Well now let me see.  I had predicted just before the season ended that San Antonio would win it all.  When it got down to SA and OKC I said the winner of that series would win the finals. 0-2.


I am like many other people and was not happy when LeBron left Cleveland in a circus  like he did with a live 30 minute show on ESPN.  Like all of us who grow into what we become and you can just see from this year to last how much James took it more on his shoulders to make sure they won this year.  You know we can never say the word never like LeBron will never win the title because  we change every day.  Sometimes for the worse in his case he has gotten better every year.  Anybody who averages a triple double in any series has got to be the MVP and he was.

The Charlotte ---Cats as they will be know now have a new coach and who knows whether this is good for the Cats or not.  Seems to me Michael Jordan Micro manages so much that just to make you think he is intelligent in his thinking.  I think he is just like Jerry Jones is in the NFL.  He knows just enough about how to run the team to run it in the ground.

Friday Legion Game Moved

The Friday night home game of Post 58 against Post 13 from Wilson has been moved to Saturday night at 7PM.  So far since P58 has come back from the week off to let the players graduating  do so and for the others a week to go to the beach Post 58 has played four games in what as of tonight is in seven days.

Moving the conference tilt with  Wilson to Saturday P 58 travels to Edenton on Sunday for a double header.  They return home Wednesday for a non conference game with Johnston County before going to Wilson next Friday night or five games in six days.   That is a real test for your pitching staff since only the Johnston County game doesn't effect the conference standings.

Where  did life go wrong?  Use to be sports was play on a field or play ground but in our society today sports happens in court rooms more than any where else.  I think many of you had your mothers keep keepsakes during your life and on our daughter Morgan's birth on June 15th 1994 O J was being chased  in his white Bronco.  That started what has become an almost daily court battle by someone being charged with something and that person has something to do with sports.

Barry Bonds, Yes I think he did performance enhancing drugs but how in a court where you are presumed innocent until proved guilty can you prove such with out having film of him shooting up.  A whole lot of tax dollars wasted.

I think we all know O J is guilty but he is in jail today over something else not murder.

Just to throw a little politics into the fray.  Do I think John Edwards covered up and used of campaign funds to finance a mistress is guilty?  Yes he's guilty but if I had of been on the jury from the evidence I heard  I would not have convicted him either.

Back to sports,  just maybe the best pitcher ever in major league baseball Roger Clemens found innocent this week of not lying to congress.  How can you convict anybody who lies to other liars and in this case congress?  Is he guilty of using performance enhancing drugs?  You know he is. How do you prove it?

I just have one more question to ask.  Since the PGA put the drug testing in place how many tournaments has Tiger Woods Won?

Between performance enhancing drugs and the court house life sure has change.

Teammates

John Wooten the former Eastern Wayne baseball player and ECU multi position player was drafted in the 37th round by the Oakland A's and this past weekend he signed with the A's and he was shipped off to the Vermont River Monsters of the New York Penn League.  This is the same team in which Xavier Macklin of Nash Central is playing with again this year.

Understand X is injured but I will get more details from either his mom or brother Khalil at the Legion game Friday.  Why mention about John Wooten?  If you remember Wooten was a member of the Eastern Wayne team that beat Northern Nash in the Eastern Finals the year Tyler Joyner was a senior and Joyner never pitched in the Eastern Regional because he had to pitch that Monday leading into the Thursday/Friday Regional.  Why else would we mention Wooten?  He is the son of former Gryphon great Sonny Wooten.

Friday night is maybe the biggest game of the year for Coleman Pitt Post 58 as they host Wilson for the second time this season.  Last Thursday P 58 beat Post 13 8-3 but P13 had four players and their coach who were involved in the State games and did not play last time.  P58 has a two game lead on P13 and after last night and we saw the team from Albemarle  and we have now seen every team in the league this year, it surely looks like a two team league and if P58 can win Friday and stretch their lead to three games that would put P58 in the driver's seat for taking first place in the division and getting the home field advantage at least in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Heard this rumor from a Nash Central fan.  He hears that the weight room at Rocky Mount High School is full every time the weight room doors are open with players wanting to play football this year for Jason Battle.  We all had heard last year that several players chose not to play for Dickie Schock but those seem to be back with Jason Battle as coach.

I still have the impression that the best team in the NBA playoffs in the finals is the OKC Thunder.  However since their opening game rout they have played like a team that they thought they were suppose to win while LeBron has by far been the best player on the court every minute he has been in there.  Miami looks like the team that wants to win while OKC  looks like they are not ready to win yet.  If I were a betting man I would say there is a 75% chance Miami wins it Thursday but if OKC can somehow get it back to game six and seven the pressure will then change to Miami's shoulders.  If it goes back to OKC I'm still going with the team I think is the best(OKC) but it is Miami's title to lose.

Post 58 Rolls Again

There is good news with a ten run win in seven innings and I need to let  you know there is bad also.  Tonight Coleman Pitt Post 58 met Albemarle Post 84 for the first meeting ever between the two Posts since this is the first year of ball for P84.  P58 now goes to 7-1  in conference play but the bad news is this.  Our division this year is not very good at all.  Only Wilson Post 13 can be rated as a good team and the other four Albemarle, Edenton, Ahoskie and Windsor are not very good at all.

The problem is this, we are not really getting enough good competition  to get prepared for the playoffs,  Not one of the bottom four has any quality pitching at all.  Tonight P58 collected nine hits and received ten walks and hit batters to put Post 84 away in seven innings 13-3.  That's not Post 58 fault but they need some 3-2 games that go nine innings just to get the feel of the competition.  If you remember our division got knocked out of the playoffs quickly last year and the teams in our league were better last season.  You can only play the teams on the schedule  but we need a real test Friday night when Post 13 from Wilson returns to play Post 58.

Between last night and tonight Post 58 scored in all six innings that they batted in last night and they started tonight scoring in the first five innings to plate 12 runs. There is no way to check that but I would bet that is a record for consecutive innings scored in 11.

Kyle Pratt had three hits  and three rbi while Matthew Berry had three and two rbi.  Spires Miller has gotten a hit in each game last night and tonight but has walked seven times to reach base nine times in a row. Jeremy Lucas a hit and rbi.  Jay Aparicio had a hit and two rbi.

There was a forty minute rain delay in the bottom of the first as Jeremy Sloops was the starting pitcher and he did not come back to pitch in the second. Coach Hank Jones used as many as he could trying not to use up any arms waiting on Post 13 Friday night.  Chase Johnson, Tyler King and Jeremy Trevathan all threw two innings each.

That opening night rainout against Pitt County Post 39 has been added to the schedule as that game will now be played in Rocky Mount on July 3rd.  That is a week before the playoffs starts and that is really a needed game against a quality team.

UGGGLY

Coleman Pitt Post 58 picked up their seventh conference win in eight tries tonight beating Ahoskie Post 102 in seven innings 12-2.  If this game had to have Russian judges to determine a winner then neither side would have been declared a winner.  Post 58 committed 5 errors and three straight batters reached at one point on errors.  Not to be outdone Post 102 had six miscues and two plays accounted for four of them.  Twice on throws to second the ball  was throw to center field and while trying to throw the runners out at third the balls were throw out of play allowing the runs to score.

Post 58 managed to score in all six innings that they batted collecting 13 hits.  They were lead by Khalil Macklin who went 4-4.  Chase Johnson was 3-5.  Colton Vaughn collected two hits.   Spires Miller, Matt Berry, Dillon Moore, Jeremy Sloop all had one hit but Post 102 pitching also walked or hit seven more batters.

Tyler King started on the mound for Post 58 and pitched into the fourth inning when Post 58 committed the three errors back to back to back.  King had walked in a run in third Spencer Ramsey came in and once Post 58 got past the fourth Post 102 never had another base runner.  Ramsey had two innings of three up and three down and Jeremy Trevathan did the same in the seventh.  Ahoskie had four hits on the game and three came off King and only one from Ramsey.

P58 is right back on the diamond Tuesday night hosting Albemarle and this is a conference game.  This is the new team from Elizabeth City that has joined the conference and game time will be at 7pm Tuesday.

Since returning from the graduation break P58 is 3-0 all conference wins and are now 9-4 overall and 7-1 in league play.  They have a return game with Wilson Friday night at home.  Going into tonight's game P58 had a two game lead in the conference race with Wilson at 5-3.  Ahoskie, Windsor, Edenton and Albemarle are all battling to make the top four positions as the top four make the playoffs.