LEGION BASEBALL: Post 210 Speakers capture Ohio tournament title

Jun. 12—TROY, Ohio — Post 210 baseball manager Brent Hart knows very well that his Speakers won't win every game this summer, but he's enjoying the ride during their season-opening 10-game win streak.

The Speakers claimed the title at the Miami Valley Veterans Appreciation Tournament this weekend in Troy, Ohio, with wins over Delaware (Ohio) Knights 14-5, Jefferson County (Ohio) 12-2, Napoleon (Ohio) Post 300 River Bandits 10-0, Sidney (Ohio) Post 217 White 10-0 and Piqua (Ohio) 18-1.

Officially, the championship game was rained out but Post 210 was declared the winners based on a 5-0 record and outscoring their opponents 64-8.

"We're eventually going to run into a top-notch pitcher or a team that is really hitting it well," said Hart. "Right now, we're that team. Our offense is really doing a nice job of putting runs on the board and our pitchers have been throwing great games.

"It's not going to last forever, but it's sure been a lot of fun these first few weeks."

Probably the most impressive win of the weekend for Post 210 was the 10-0 triumph over the Napoleon River Bandits, who are traditionally one of the top teams in Ohio and they were the host of the Great Lakes Regional in 2017 and 2018 when the Speakers were back-to-back regional runners-up.

"That was really a good game," Hart said. "Ethan McMasters threw the ball really well for us and Zach Russell, who was sick most of the weekend, had a huge game — both at the plate and in the field."

Russell went 4-for-4 with a 2-run single in the third, an RBI-single in the fourth and another run-scoring hit in the fifth inning.

That was more than enough offense for McMasters, who allowed just three singles while striking out one and walking two.

"He proved that out pitchers don't have to strike out every batter to be successful," Hart said. "They just need to avoid the walks and let the defense behind them doing their job."

In the first 10 games this summer, the Post 210 pitching staff has a team ERA of 1.67 while the Speakers offense is average 11.0 runs per contest.

"You are going to win a lot of games when you are scoring double digits and your pitchers are allowing less than 2 runs a game," Hart said. "I have to give a lot of credit to (pitching coach) Steve Remole for what our pitching staff has accomplished already this season. We have a lot of talent on the mound, but he is doing a great job of bringing them along this summer."

The 10-game win streak to start the season is the second longest for Post 210 baseball in the past 10 years, only the 16-0 start by the 2017 team is longer.

"Shep (Allan Shepherd) keeps reminding me about that," Hart said. "He really wants to see if we can equal that group or surpass them."

The Speakers started their first tournament of the summer scoring at least one run in every inning in the victory over the Knights.

Landen Haurez led the offensive attack for the Speakers with two hits, including a homer, and two RBIs. Also coming up with multiple hits and RBIs were Dalton Hobick and Drew Wichtowski.

That was more than enough offense for left-hander Alec Harrison, who went the distance allowing nine hits and five runs over six innings.

In the nightcap on Friday, right-hander Kollin Asbury gave up 2 runs in the first inning against Jefferson County on a walk and a single. After that, he allowed just 1 hit in the final five frames on his way to his second victory over the summer. Asbury finished with nine strikeouts and just one walk over six innings.

Post 210 pulled even in the second on a 2-run homer from Blake Norton and the Speakers took the lead for good with a five-run fourth inning that started with a RBI-single from Haurez. Post 210 added four more runs in the fifth highlighted by a 2-run single by Tuff Elson.

After the shutout from McMasters against Napoleon, Post 210 left-hander Conlan Moore tossed a 3-hit shutout against Sidney as he struck out eight in five innings.

Haurez was the offensive star against for the Speakers, going 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs. Drew Wichtowski went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs.

In Sunday's blowout win over Piqua, infielder Drew Pinkston went 3-for-3 with a game-high five RBIs.

Up next for Post 210 is a single game tonight against Rantoul Post 287 at Wabash Park in Rantoul.

This weekend, the Speakers travel to Terre Haute, Ind., for the John Hayes Best of the Midwest Tournament. Post 210 opens against Crawfordsville, Ind., in 5 p.m. contest Thursday at West Vigo High School. Then on Friday at 12:30 p.m. Post 210 will face Lancaster (Ohio) at Bob Warn Field on the campus of Indiana State University.

"The Terre Haute tournament has always been a big challenge for our teams and this year is going to be no different," Hart said. "I really like the way our kids jelled in Ohio and I hope that keeps rolling this weekend in Terre Haute."