TERRE HAUTE —
Baseball players from Wayne Newton Post 346 will see some familiar faces at Lafayette this weekend in American Legion baseball regional competition — which is one of the things manager John Hayes is worried about.
The Terre Haute team, which won its 10th straight sectional and its 26th in the past 27 seasons by sweeping Greene County on Thursday and Friday, opens play at 4 p.m. this Friday at Loeb Stadium against Remington Post 280; the other two teams in the field are Crawfordsville Post 72 and Kokomo Post 6.
Post 346 won a single game at Crawfordsville earlier this summer, and was rained out of a home date with Post 72. Hayes’ team split a doubleheader against Kokomo, and it swept a doubleheader at Remington early in the season before its five Terre Haute South High School representatives had even completed state-tournament competition.
So the manager is hoping his players have short memories.
“It’s always hard to beat a team [in the tournament] that you’ve already played and beaten,” Hayes told the Tribune-Star earlier this week. “We’ve got to be mentally prepared to forget what happened in the past and look to the future.
“We need to play every game like we’re playing a team we haven’t [already] played.”
The 4-1 record Post 346 achieved against this weekend’s opponents is consistent with its 28-7 mark for the season, and it’s doubtful the other three teams at Lafayette have faced any tougher competition than Terre Haute has.
Tournament trips to Paducah, Ky., and Moline, Ill., have exposed Hayes’ team to some of the best American Legion programs in the Midwest.
But, as its tournament history suggests, standards are high for this team. Hayes is aware of some of the vulnerabilities of the 2011 edition.
“Defensively, we haven’t played as well as I hoped we would,” he said. “Our pitching has been good at times, but at other times it’s been spotty.”
The pitching is expected to be pretty good on Friday, because that’s when A.J. Reed will make his regional start for Post 346. Recently named Indiana’s Mr. Baseball, Reed’s high school tournament and all-star obligations have limited him to just four starts for Post 346 — but they’ve been good ones. He’s 4-0 with a 1.45 earned run average, and in 31 innings he’s allowed just one extra-base hit — a double — with a ridiculous 42-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The staff’s workhorse has been Kodie Girton (5-1, 3.32) and its biggest winner has been Zack Kent (6-0, 3.44). Scott West (3-2, 3.64) and Bryan Nacke (4-2, 4.63) have been other rotation mainstays, Jimmy Maxwell (1-1, 2.79) has experience as a closer, and John Robert Patterson (2-1), Daniel Marlow (1-0) and Dalton Sexton (2-0, 0.59) give the team impressive depth.
Hayes pointedly didn’t list offense among his concerns, and his team takes a .360 batting average to regional play.
Reed is again the leader with a .537 batting average, an unheard-of 1.608 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) and team-leading totals of nine homers, 44 RBIs and 36 runs.
Cleanup hitter Zac Niehaus (.367, 39 RBIs, 35 runs) has been almost as productive, however, and other impressive averages are carried by Girton (.427, 33 runs), Marlow (.408), Caleb Mason (.398, 30 runs), Nacke (.368), Seth Lunsford (.365, .476 on-base percentage), Patterson (.350), West (.343, .483 on-base percentage), Kent (.338), Preston Tofaute (.326) and Ricky Wheatfill (.317). Outfielder Cody Thornton hasn’t been a .300 hitter, but he’s tied for second on the team in homers and participated in the state’s junior showcase a couple of weeks ago.
So Post 346 would appear to be the favorite at Lafayette this weekend if it takes care of business.
“We have to play good defense and [our pitchers have to] throw strikes,” Hayes summarized. “I think the offense will be there. We just need to do the little things essential to the game, and we’ll be working on those things [in practice] this week.”
American Legion baseball regional
At Loeb Stadium, Lafayette
Friday
Game 1, 4 p.m. — Wayne Newton Post 346 vs. Remington Post 280
Game 2, 7:30 p.m. — Crawfordsville Post 72 vs. Kokomo Post 6
Saturday
Game 3, Noon — Friday’s winners
Game 4, 3:30 p.m. — Friday’s losers
Game 5, 8 p.m. — Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3
Sunday
1 p.m. — Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5; second game if necessary
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