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| Lee Walker
August 9, 2013
4:04:07 PM
Entry #: 4081355
| Well, each of our Post 11 teams seasons have come to an end. Each of our 3 teams enjoyed some level of success throughout the season.
We fielded a 15u Junior team for the first time in Post 11 history. The 15u Junior program just completed it's 3rd year of existence in Alabama. Dale Dobbs did an outstanding job coaching our 15u team, with assistance from Mr Larry Gray. Our 15u team advanced to the 8 team state tournament in Ozark so that accomplishment in our first year was a huge success. Our inconsistent fielding led to our downfall at the state tournament, as was this team's curse throughout the summer.
Our Senior Division 2 (High School Eligible) team started the year off with a bang. We won our inaugural tournament of the summer in Huntsville, with a thrilling 8 inning victory over the host Huntsville Post 237 team. We enjoyed a lot of good wins against very strong teams throughout the summer. However, the inability to locate a full time coach proved to be devastating as the summer went along as the chemistry needed to build a great team never materialized. Brandon Berry & Caleb Waddell did an admirable job in trying to salvage the ship, and Tim Perkins, Rip Dickerson, Scottie Skipworth, and Pat Claunch all lended helping hands at different points throughout the summer in leading this team.
As for our Senior Division 1 (19u) team goes, the group we assembled on this team was absolutely amazing. We had such an enjoyable summer!! Kids from bitter rival schools joined together and quickly found out that they could not only co-exist with their rivals, but they could flourish with their rivals when they worked together. We had such a solid core of players who provided great position flexibility when it came to lineup scenarios.
We had the most complete team we've put together since 2004. We had speed and great leadoff hitter at the top of the order, contact and RBI machines in the middle of our lineup, and guys whom you best not overlook at the bottom of the order we made you work through our entire lineup of 9. We had very solid pitching, again, our best pitching staff since 2004. Then, to top it off, we had great chemistry and team cohesiveness in the dugout and off the field.
We went to Troy with the intention of winning the state tournament, and we had the talent to do it. Bessemer won the tournament by winning 3 straight games. Luckily for Bessemer, they didn't have to play Florence, because our Post 11 team went 3-0 against them this season, and they didn't want to be matched up against us. Fortunately, for Bessemer, Troy & Tuscaloosa took care of knocking us out of the tournament before we could match up with Bessemer.
We sent our 2 best to the mound in our first 2 games. Unfortunately for us, we weren't at the top of our games. From making that big pitch, making that big play to shut down an inning, or getting that big hit to keep us going or drive in crucial runs, we simply got outplayed on our last 2 days. I sit here typing this knowing that we were the best, most well rounded, team in Alabama this year. And sadly, I type this while Bessemer is in Asheboro, NC awaiting to play their 3rd game in the regional tournament tomorrow (they lost 1st game yesterday, won in the losers bracket today).
On a positive note, we have a lot of players who are eligible to return next season. Not only are they eligible to return, they're already excited about returning and joining forces again, as next year will be the last year that American Legion will allow players who have already been in college a year the opportunity to play Legion ball. We had 6 such players in 2004, and we could potentially have that many again in 2014. If all of our eligible players do come back next summer, then 2014 just might be the year that Post 11 brings the state championship back to Florence for the first time since 1994 (which is the only time Florence Post 11 has won the Alabama American Legion state championship).
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