Local players competing on Chatham Legion team
Jun. 28—High school baseball and softball teams from all around the area are competing in various summer leagues of different types. For a handful of Grace Christian players, home has turned out to be on the other side of the Deep River.
Crusaders Brandon Crabtree, Jarrett Crabtree, TJ McGraw and Caleb Ellis crossed the river into Chatham County and are playing this season for the Chatham Post 292 American Legion Baseball team, which is the closest Legion team to the Sanford area. Post 292 plays its home games at Jordan-Matthews High School in Siler City.
American Legion baseball is not as prevalent as it once was in North Carolina, but several very strong teams are still operating throughout the state. Among the teams that Chatham has played are Legion teams representing Richmond County, Davidson County, Rowan County, Fuquay-Varina, Hope Mills, Durham, and Cleveland County. The team even took a road trip to West Virginia over the weekend and played Morgantown Post 174 on Saturday.
The team has played 12 games so far this season, going into a Tuesday night contest at Greensboro. They will host the same team tonight at 7 and then RC 23, a team from Asheboro, on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The season began with a home-and-home against the Davidson County Post 8 Senior Hawgs on May 21-22. Chatham, which is 3-9 on the season, scored its first victory over May 31 at Hope Mills Post 32. After allowing three runs in the first inning, Post 292 shut them out the rest of the way for a 9-3 win. Brandon Crabtree, who will play for NC State following the summer, played a key role in the win, going 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs scored and three RBI. McGraw was 1-for-3 with a run scored and Ellis 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Brandon Crabtree tripled and McGraw homered in a 14-6 victory over Durham on June 6. Both Crabtrees had two hits in the victory and McGraw scored three runs after reaching base in every trip to the plate. Brandon Crabtree doubled and tripled the next day at Rowan County, but Post 292 lost this one 8-5.
On Sunday, June 18, Chatham traveled to Hamlet Post 49 and it turned into a 15-4 beatdown administered by the Crusader contingent. McGraw was 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, a walk, three runs scored and three RBI. Jarrett Crabtree went 3-for-5 with two doubles, three runs scored and an RBI, and Brandon Crabtree was 3-for-4 with a walk, four runs scored and two RBI.
Ellis, who emerged as the Crusaders' top pitcher during the spring, when Grace went 20-4 and reached the 2A state semifinals in their first year at the level, handles some pitching duties for the team but doesn't play in the field. He is one of the youngest players in the circuit, which allows players up to college freshmen to play as long as they have not yet turned 20 years old.
