There are still 16 games left in the high school baseball season as of Wednesday morning. Still, American Legion season has begun.
That includes Beckley Bash Post 32, which already has two wins on the ledger. And with no local teams involved in the high school state tournament on Wednesday, area baseball fans’ schedule to witness the Bash’s home opener is wide open.
The Bash will be at Linda K. Epling Stadium for the first time on Wednesday, hosting Richwood Post 97. The doubleheader will begin at 6 p.m.
Richwood is not just a new team, but also a new Area 3 opponent for the Bash. Joining those two will be Charleston Post 65, South Charleston Post 94, Logan Post 19 and Milton Post 139.
Home openers are always exciting, but it will mean a little more with the Bash hosting the American Legion State Tournament July 22-27. And that doesn’t even count the annual Fourth of July fireworks night against Logan.
“It’s exciting for sure,” Bash coach Jordan Meadows said. “And it’s Richwood, so it’s a new area team. So just having new area games that mean something, and being the first home game, I know it’s kind of sandwiched in with the state tournament, but just to get some guys experience at Linda K. Epling Stadium, it’s a big summer for us. So to have our first game a little over a month away from the state tournament, I think a lot of the guys are excited, and I’m definitely excited to get rolling.”
Beckley got the season started Saturday with a doubleheader sweep at Ritchie County Post 83. Beckley rolled in the first game 12-2, then battled for a 3-2 win in the nightcap.
Meadows didn’t have all of his roster at his disposal, with players from Independence and Shady Spring still playing in the state high school tournament.
“It was definitely a different day on Saturday,” Meadows said. “We had nine Senior Legion guys and I brought up some Junior Legion guys to help us out with some numbers.”
The opened had a Wyoming County flavor, with Zach Hunt and Miken Smyth combining to go 5 for 8 with five runs batted in. Each had a double and home run, and Hunt had four of the RBIs. Woodrow Wilson’s Drew Gallaher also homered.
Beckley trailed the second game 2-0 but scored a run in the sixth and two in the seventh. Meanwhile, Layne Lambert and Gallaher combined to hold Post 83 to four hits. Both Ritchie runs were unearned.
When the Bash has every player at its disposal, all of the players will go in with Legion experience and many will have a year of college under their belts.
“That’s kind of what my main thing was this offseason,” Meadows said, “because being Year 3 I kind of learned from the last two years. I tried to get more college guys, especially college pitchers.”
Among them is Eli Green, who logged some innings for Concord this spring. And there will be others who are committed to college, including Sam Barnett (University of Charleston) and Lambert (Concord).
Woodrow Wilson graduate Maddex Sims, an outfielder, started 40 games for WVU Tech. Ashton Cochran made 25 at Concord.
James Monroe’s Kadyn Hines, who has committed to West Virginia, will play for the Bash on Wednesday, although he won’t be available to pitch. He took a tough loss as the Mavericks fell 2-1 to Wheeling Central in the Class AA state quarterfinals on Monday.
Team chemistry should not be a problem for this year’s group.
“The guys are starting to mesh well with each other, just from being in high school and kind of being county rivals or region rivals to now being friends and hanging out in the summers and playing Legion,” Meadows said. “It’s definitely a new vibe for those guys. But it was fun on Saturday, good weather. Hopefully Wednesday with the home game, being in the locker room, they continue to get more continuity and the team brotherhood and have a lot of fun.”
About the Author
