Post 346 ready to compete for state championship

Jul. 19—Wayne Newton Post 346 begins its quest for a 2023 American Legion baseball state championship at 12:30 p.m. Friday, when the Terre Haute team takes on South Bend Post 151 in the second of four first-round games at Kokomo's Highland Park.

"We came up one game short last year," shortstop Tyler Will pointed out at practice earlier this week. "Jacob Pruitt."

Pruitt, currently pitching for Indiana State, led Muncie to the 2022 championship, pitching a no-hitter over Post 346 in the championship game. He won't be at the state finals this year and neither will Muncie, which didn't qualify. But several teams familiar to Post 346 will be there, and a couple of those will provide revenge possibilities of their own.

Lafayette, which beat Post 346 in both the John Hayes Best of the Midwest Tournament a month ago and in the championship game of the Moline, Ill., tournament, is in the opposite bracket. So is Madison, which upset Post 346 in the Hayes tournament and split with Wayne Newton in the championship round of the Crawfordsville Regional, last weekend.

The host team, Kokomo Post 6, is a possible Saturday opponent for Post 346. The two teams didn't play in the Terre Haute tournament, but Wayne Newton beat Kokomo at Moline.

And Kokomo's first opponent — and thus the other possible Saturday foe for Post 346 — is Rockport Post 254. Rockport might be Indiana's best-known American Legion program nationwide — unless Wayne Newton is.

Post 346 had expected to play Evansville Pate, the second-place team from the regional won last weekend by Rockport, but Pate didn't have enough players remaining to compete this weekend. South Bend was the substitute.

That scheduling quirk — Post 346 beat Pate during the season — may or may not help the local team. But Post 346 looks ready for anything.

"We're excited. We're ready to go," manager David Will said this week. "Our pitchers are throwing strikes, we've been playing our kids in their primary positions and getting our routines set."

Post 346 will be taking 14 players to Kokomo, but only 13 will be available to play. Riley Huckaby, who has been valuable as a leadoff hitter, a second baseman and occasionally a catcher, is still out with a shoulder injury.

Friday's lineup will consist of Cam Judson on the mound, Ross Olsen behind the plate, Linden Jenkins at first base, Coy Edwards at second base, Tyler Will at shortstop and Ty Stultz at third base.

Outfielders will be Bryson Carpenter, Ben Kearns and Tucker Helton from left to right, with Logan Nicoson and Isaak Osborne the other position players available and Jax Cox and Gunnar Langer other pitchers. Stultz, Kearns and Will are also available on the mound.

"To win the tournament, you've got to win five or six games in five days," David Will pointed out, "so we have to pretty good on the mound."

"We've been playing really well," said Judson, who will be playing for Rose-Hulman next spring. "Our offense has gotten a lot better and our pitching has been good all season.

"We have more talent than a lot of teams," Judson added, "and we've started to play better together . . . we hit five or six homers in two games [against Madison] on Sunday."

"We have pretty good starters," said Tyler Will, who was part of the Division II World Series team at the University of Indianapolis in the spring. "If we make our plays and jump on 'em on offense, we can compete pretty well."

"We need to keep our mistakes to a minimum," Judson added. "If we have a good first inning, we usually pull through . . . and once we get momentum, we're having fun and keep it going."

David Will would like to see his team demonstrate a little more discipline at the plate, to enable the pitch counts to go in Post 346's favor, and be a little better defensively than it was at the regional. Post 346 has been averaging eight to 10 hits per game recently, he added.

One cautionary thought? "We can't afford any more injuries," he said.

Friday schedule

At Highland Park, Kokomo

10 a.m. — Lafayette Post 11 vs. Valparaiso Post 94

12:30 p.m. — Wayne Newton Post 346 vs. South Bend Post 151

4 p.m. — South Haven Post 502 vs. Madison Post 9

7:30 p.m. — Rockport Post 254 vs. Kokomo Post 6

Saturday schedule

10 a.m. — Lafayette-Valparaiso loser vs. South Haven-Madison loser

12:30 p.m. — Wayne Newton-South Bend loser vs. Rockport-Kokomo loser

4 p.m. — Lafayette-Valparaiso winner vs. South Haven-Madison winner

7:30 p.m. — Wayne Newton-South Bend winner vs. Rockport-Kokomo winner

Tournament continues through Tuesday