Gallery by Tina Laney
Beckley Post 32 American Legion Baseball head coach Jordan Meadows was convinced he had a solid team at the beginning of the season.
However, fielding a Beckley Post 32 team for the first time in five years, even Meadows didn’t exactly see his squad winning 19 of its first 22 games.
“I was talking with (assistant coaches) Ryan (Womack) and Kendrick (Epling) on the way home from (the Morgantown tournament last Sunday) and my expectations were very slim at the start. It was lets make it to states, but the more that we play, my expectations are much higher now,” Meadows said. “These kids love each other, but to be (19-3), I didn’t expect that. I thought we would have some bumps in the road with vacations and all, but they have all battle together and we are excited.”
Over the 22 games played so far, Post 32 has scored 212 runs and has been no stranger to big innings.
Jake Meadows leads the way hitting .500 with 30 runs scored, while Brayden Kiblinger, Reece Patterson, Peyton DeHaven and Adam Richmond are all averaging .400 or better.
Patterson has 31 RBI for the top spot on the squad with Richmond and Cole Brown responsible for 18 runs each.
The latest win for Post 32 came Wednesday night at Linda K. Epling Stadium against the West Virginia Lightning 18U travel team.
Trailing 4-0 after the first half-inning, Beckley used an 11-run sixth-inning to take a 17-7 victory.
Richmond drove in three runs and Meadows knocked in two more. The speedy DeHaven ripped a pair of triples and scored four times. Bryson Redmond, Colten Tate and Meadows all scored twice.
Wyoming East rising senior Zach Hunt led the Lightning with two hits, including a double, and drove in three runs. Shady Spring products Aiden Calvert and Brody Seabolt both had two hits and Independence rising senior Levi Barnett scored three times.
The American Legion postseason for Beckley Post 32 is now less than two weeks away and the next six games are crucial in regards to gaining home-field advantage in the postseason or playing on the road.
“We now have our full 18-player roster here after battling vacations,” Meadows said. “This is the best time of year. We play six area games in the next week and the area tournament starts (July) 16.”
Sunday South Charleston comes to town and brings a team that Beckley has struggled against historically.
The two teams split a doubleheader just over a week back at W.Va. State University before South Charleston beat Beckley 4-3 Sunday in the semifinals of the Mountaineer Country Invitational in Morgantown.
“Losing to them in Morgantown, it got a little chippy there at the end, so these kids are hungry,” Meadows said, with a grin. “They hate the way that we lost. It will be fun being here in Beckley.”
A Sunday sweep for Post 32 will go a long way towards postseason games being played at Linda K. Epling Stadium, but there is more work to do outside of Sunday.
“Sunday could determine where the area postseason tournament will be played, but we still have the other Charleston team and Winfield to play,” Meadows said. “We can’t look past those guys. We play them next Tuesday and Friday, but ultimately Sunday could determine the higher seed.”
Next up for Beckley will be two games Friday. The first game will be against a revamped squad of local players before battling Morgantown Post 2 at approximately 7 p.m.
“It is a team that we created as of today because Berkeley Springs had to drop out,” Meadows said. “We have some old W.Va. Red Hats jerseys, so you will see guys like Tyler Mackey, Logan Williams, Chase Tolliver, Ty Evans and Tyler Reed. We didn’t want Morgantown coming all of this way for just one game.”
Following the game Friday night will be what is billed as the largest fireworks show in the Mountain State hosted by Douglas and Linda K. Epling.
There is no admission charge with limited concessions (water, soda, candy, chips and pepperoni rolls) available. Concessions are cash-only and there is no ATM available on site.
Only guests entering the stadium for the evening’s events will be allowed to park on the stadium parking lot.
