Turner impressed with progress of Ada A's
Jul. 13—The young Ada A's American Legion baseball team just keeps getting better and better.
Morgan Turner, the head coach of the Post 72 club who is an assistant at Moss High School, said his team had made strides from the start of the summer season to now.
The A's get another chance to showcase their talents locally this weekend when they compete in the East Central University 16U Showcase. That even takes place Saturday and Sunday at Ken Turner Field.
The Post 72 club faces OK Prime at 8 a.m. on Saturday before battling Evo Elite-Owens at noon. On Sunday, the A's face Evo Elite-Pennington at 10 a.m. and finish up with a game against All American at 6 p.m.
The A's are now 11-8-1 this summer.
"I'm loving the growth these guys show every week and excited to see how we play this weekend at ECU," Turner told The Ada News.
A pair of Byng High School pitchers threw gems in the A's victories over Bethany Post 12 and The Shawnee Post Diamond Jaxx during a festival Monday in Seminole.
Chalin Robertson, who will be a sophomore for the Pirates this fall, struck out four and allowed just one earned run and two hits in the A's 12-2, five-inning run-rule victory over Bethany.
"That first game felt like we were hitting everything on a rope and pitching wise Chailin Robertson just placed the ball anywhere he wanted. and defensively we worked well behind him," Turner said.
Kendon Wood, who will be a junior on the Byng pitching staff this fall, tossed a six-inning, no-hitter. He struck out four and walked two in six strong innings. He needed just 61 total pitches to finish the game.
Turner said he wasn't aware that Wood was throwing a no-hitter until Ryan Shelton pointed it out heading into the sixth and final inning.
"(After five innings) Ryan told me he hadn't given up a hit yet and sure enough he was right," Turner recalled. "I guess I just got caught up in how quickly he was working and challenging their hitters. Kendon was just phenomenal."
Turner said the A's also played stellar defense during the Monday doubleheader.
"To top it all off, defensively that was possibly the best day we've had this summer. Ryan Shelton made a diving play at second. Kendon turned a double play with JD (Dugan) and Cade (Stick) and Brock Boyles caught a fly out on a dive after tracking it down well over 20 yards over his back shoulder."
Turner said he wasn't sure how his players would respond coming off the OSSAA-mandated dead period the week before.
"Some of the guys were joking how they haven't picked up a ball, fielded a grounder or saw live pitching in over a week and I was curious how it would play out. I'd say they looked just fine," he said. "It was a comfortable day given the heat on that radiating turf but as simple as I can put it, they handled the job well."
