Sports

LOCAL BASEBALL: American Legion Southeast Regional in Albany
Looking to Post a 'W'

• Albany's Post 30 begins play in the American Legion Southeast Regional today, looking to capture its first title since the 2001 season.

Paul Dehner Jr.

ALBANY —When former Post 30 coach Brad Cowart vacated the position prior to this season, Larry Cook seemed an obvious choice to fill the void.

But two years removed from leaving the post, the question remained if he would be willing to return to the exhausting demands of American Legion baseball.

Sitting on the edge of the dugout Tuesday and staring out at his team on the verge of hosting the Southeast tournament as Georgia state champion, Cook could only crack a confident smile while explaining his decision.

It wasn’t hard to make seeing what we had,” Cook said.

What he had was one of the best collections of talent the team has seen in recent memory.

From the rotation of three pitchers all set to play college baseball next season, to the pockets of young talent developing more and more each game, it has turned into everything Cook could have wanted and more.

Post 30 punished teams through the league season, compiling a 9-3 record and outscoring opponents 102-41.

In tournament play, Post 30 finished 12-3-1, and outscored foes 124-64.

Now, the team is coming off an undefeated three-game swing in capturing the state title two weeks ago in Alpharetta.

These guys are good.

But you don’t have to tell them that.

“I knew it,” said left fielder Andrew Anderson, a rising senior at Westover High School. “Once we came together the first couple of weeks and played real good, I knew it. We knew we were going to win state.”

With one goal accomplished, the team begins chasing the next level today, opening its regional tournament schedule against North Carolina at 7:30 p.m. at Paul Eames Park.

Post 30 will attempt to work through the double-elimination brackets and be the lone competitor standing after Monday’s final round. That would earn them a berth in the American Legion World Series in Bartlesville, Okla.

The squad will begin by putting its best foot forward, that being the black cleats of pitcher Jason Townsend.

The former Sherwood star, now taking his 90-plus mph fastball to Chipola College in Marianna, Fla., has paced the staff all season, going 7-1 with a 2.87 ERA. He’s struck out 63 batters in 53 1/3 innings.

In his biggest start of the season today, Townsend feels the pressure of a team depending on him weighing down his broad shoulders.

“There is some pressure out there,” he said. “But I had the ball the first game in state. You just go out there and play your game, set the tone for the rest of the season.”

Following his lead in Post 30’s three-pitcher rotation will be Colquitt’s Andrew Wallace.

The lanky lefty has been stellar at times this season, but struggled with bouts of inconsistency. He holds a 4.38 ERA through seven games.

Bryan Devereaux, a Darton College signee, will pitch a third game, if necessary. The Schley County product is 7-1 on the year with a 4.42 ERA and 47 strikeouts.

As good as the pitching has been, Cook knows it will be the eight players surrounding his hurlers which will make the difference this weekend.

He knows because he saw it firsthand two weeks ago.

It was two outstanding sliding catches in the outfield and a slick double play in the rain by shortstop Evan Boyd which secured the 7-5 win against Gainesville in the state title game.

“We have to play great defense,” Cook said. “We got to get outs we can make and maybe one or two we are not supposed to make. We get those two, and we can play with anybody.”

Especially if their bats stay as lively as they have been all season.

Ignited by the spark of leadoff hitter Nick Pitts, the offense has used a steady diet of small ball to scratch out wins.

Pitts is hitting .344 and leads the team with 40 runs scored and 14 stolen bases. Wallace’s .472 batting average and ridiculous .717 slugging percentage have coupled with the powerful stroke of Townsend and Josh Carswell to drive in runs.

All of those numbers have added up to a team which began the season with high expectations standing in the perfect position to exceed them.

And there is no mistaking with this bunch — they are not there yet. With this much talent and a home-field advantage, finishing  with anything less than a trip to Oklahoma would seem like a waste.

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