Bombers ready to try and go further in regional
Aug. 2—Owensboro Post 9 will start American Legion Southeast Regional play early morning Wednesday in North Carolina. The Bombers are hoping to advance further in this regional than they were able to go in their 2021 regional trip, where they were 1-2.
"We have a few key players back from that team, Brock Brubaker, Harrison Bowman," Bombers manager Matt Freeman said. "They were comfortable and played well for us last year. Our kids have some goals set."
The Bombers swept two games from Lexington to win the American Legion State Tournament last week at Hot Rods Stadium in Bowling Green.
The Bombers hit the ball well against Lexington in both games, winning the opener 12-2 and the second game 7-3, in a matchup that spanned two days because of heavy rain and thunderstorms Wednesday night.
Easton Blandford has shown a lot of hitting ability for the Bombers, he went 3-for-5 with three RBIs in the 7-3 win. Harrison Bowman was 2-for-3 with two runs scored in that game.
The Bombers would like to replicate the start they had in the first game of the State Tournament, when they put up eight runs with a triple by Charles Schneider, a double by Bowman and singles from Owen Payne, Cayden Crabtree, Joshua Mayes and Brubaker.
"We played through Thursday, we've been on the tournament trail for nine of the last 14 days so we gave them a couple of days off," Freeman said. "We're taking some batting practice (Monday), going over some defenses, then we'll send them home to get ready and catch a charter bus that will pick us up at the Sportscenter."
That trip started for Post 9 at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. The Bombers (25-8) will face Camden, South Carolina, at 8:30 a.m. CT on Wednesday in Asheboro, North Carolina. The tournament is double elimination.
"They were comfortable playing in the big ballpark in BG, and we're going to another large park which has an Independent league team," Freeman said. "The competition goes up quite a bit, but we played some good teams from the Evansville and Rockport area, and we played in a couple of tournaments that had national level teams. I expect the kids to go in and compete."
The emphasis for the Bombers will be much the same as it was all season, working on situational hitting and baserunning strategies.
Peyton Cary will be No. 1 pitcher going into the regional. Owen Payne will be the second pitcher. Brock Tindle is the third pitcher, and Charles Schneider would be fourth in the rotation.
Schneider has been a key contributor both pitching and at the plate as one of the Bombers' leading hitters this summer.
Blandford is hitting .440 and Schneider is at .427. This team has not hit home runs like the 2021 Bombers team did with 15.
"This team does a better job of hitting to all fields, we've only got a couple of lefties in lineup, and our right handers have been consistent in hitting to the middle of the field, they are doing a good job of making consistent contact," Freeman said.
Bombers executive director and Major League Baseball umpire Larry Vanover wanted to make sure to give credit to veterans in the American Legion who have stepped up and donated money to the Bombers. Walter Dukes with the James L. Yates Post donated $5,000 to the Bombers in honor of his late wife, Betty Dukes, before this season began.
The Bombers have also gotten assistance from the Michael E. Horn Family Foundation.
