Although Albemarle Post 74 had hoped that a week off would give its pitching staff a beneficial rest, it was all about the hitting in the team’s first round matchup with Richmond Post 316. The two squads each reached double-digits comfortably, but Albemarle never trailed and launched itself into the winner’s bracket of the American Legion state tournament in Danville, 19-13.
“That was probably one of our worst pitching performances of the year,” said Albemarle coach Mike Maynard. “But once Eli haden drew a walk and then Vince Coles followed up with a base hit, the hitting never stopped.”
Albemarle jumped out to an 11-1 lead in the first two innings, but Richmond was able to fight back to make it a 3-run game late. As such, Post 74 wound up having to throw five different pitchers with Geran Steljes taking up the bulk of the load with four innings pitched to earn a victory.
Logan Forloines led the way offensively with a 3 for 6 day at the plate and was tops on the team with four RBIs. Thomas Stallings was 2 for 5 with three RBI including a monster 2-run homer to cushion his team’s lead in the eighth inning. Coles also went 3 for 6 with a triple and four runs scored. Danny Morris was 3 for 5 with a double and a pair of runs scored. Haden finished 2 for 4 with three runs scored and a pair of stolen bases.
“(Richmond) had six errors, and that’s a lot,” Maynard said. “But I thought we did a good job of forcing some of them by being so aggressive on the bases.”
And though the Albemarle hurlers had a tough day, the Post 74 defense was on point as it turned three double plays.
The tournament is run on a double-elimination format. Albemarle will play again today at 5 p.m. at American Legion Park in Danville against either Gloucester Post 75 or the Lynchburg Cardinals. Should Post 74 win, it will earn a chance to play in the championship, and by beating one of the tournament’s favorites in Richmond, Maynard is pleased with the position his team finds itself.
“Last year we went 2-0 to start but (South Richmond Post 74) was on the other side and did the same,” Maynard said. “So you go 2-0 and face the best team late. We feel like we put ourselves in pretty good shape by beating this team, if we face (Richmond) again we’ll be in better position than last year.”
Heading into today’s game, Maynard plans to go with a platoon approach. Jason White threw the last inning of Tuesday’s win and will likely start. Joey Varaksa and J.D. Ballard also could see work.
“One of the good things about this team is that everyone on it knows how to pitch,” Maynard said. “So we’ll just see what happens and hope our bats stay hot.”
