BEVERLY - While Rusell Chadwick Beverly/Lowell Post 389/750 is the owner of one American Legion state baseball championship (2006), it has struggled at the main event in recent years.
At state during the past three seasons, Beverly/Lowell has posted a combined 1-6 mark, including 0-2 last summer.
"I thought we were pressing a little bit towards the end of last year," said Post 389/750 skipper Todd Engle after B/L (36-4 overall record) defeated Cambridge Post 84, 12-2, last Saturday to claim its fourth consecutive District 11 championship.
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RON JOHNSTON The Marietta Times
2012 District 11 champion Beverly/Lowell Post 389/750
"But again, it was inactivity that got us more than anything."
Beverly/Lowell finished 2011 with a solid 21-15 record.
B/L will have had another layoff this week before the start of state tournament play in Lancaster Monday. Post 389/750's opponent in its first game of the double-elimination event has yet to be determined.
All Post 389/750 knows for centain at the moment is that it will be playing at either Al Beavers Field or Fisher Catholic High School in Lancaster.
Also in the state tournament field will be Pickerington Post 283, the 2012 District 8 champion and last summer's state runner-up. Post 283 is the only American Legion baseball team to have beaten Beverly/Lowell this season.
"The amazing thing is we got beat by two travel teams from Michigan in Troy (on June 8-10)," Engle said. "We've only been beat by one Legion team all year and that was opening day when Pickerington beat us twice."
Since dropping its season-opening twinbill to Pickerington on Memorial Day, Beverly/Lowell has captured 36 of 38 games, including a current 27-game winning streak.
It remains to be seen whether Post 389/750 and Post 283 will hook up at state next week. It is a possibility, though.
Beverly/Lowell is expected to start in its state opener Eli Lenington (1b), Ethan Estes (rf), Tyler Proctor (3b), Landon Kern (c), Clay Ullman (rf), Jake Ullman (ss), Tim Grosel (cf), Wes Hatfield (dh) and Jordan Satterfield (2b).
B/L's pitching staff includes Zach Eddy, Kordell Antill, Ben Barnas, and Evan Sawyer.
Rounding out the rest of the Post 389/750 roster are Nick Spurr, Justin Futrell, Dustin Duffey, Gunnar Smith, and Austin Campbell.
