Post 9 Bombers ready to compete in regional

Aug. 4—The Owensboro Post 9 Bombers want to keep playing the same style of baseball that pushed them to a 28-4 record and the 2021 American Legion Baseball Kentucky state championship.

They are taking it up another level, starting play in the Great Lakes Regional Tournament on Wednesday at Morgantown, West Virginia.

"I think the kids are very confident," Bombers manager Matt Freeman said. "The experience in national tournaments is we're going to face teams that are as good or better than us. We're kind of sitting back and saying we've got to play the game got us here. Our pitchers have got to pound the strike zone and limit walks. Our hitters, if they continue at the torrid pace they have been on, we can beat a lot of teams."

The first team on the agenda in the double-elimination tournament is Rock Island, Illinois on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. CT.

"In double elimination it's built for whoever has got the best pitching staff," Freeman said. "In baseball if there's a dominant pitcher on the mound they can shut down the best hitting team any day of the week."

Cohl Proctor, Brandon Davis and Hunter Payne have all been good pitching pickups for the Bombers. They also had Ethan Gibson and Braxton French coming back.

Harrison Bowman has also worked on the pitching mound and has been solid.

"Every game he pitched for us he was in the mid 80s and he threw strikes," Freeman said.

Power hitting has become the hallmark of this Bombers outfit.

Bowman, Garrett Small and Dan St. Clair have all hit around the mid .400s.

"Those three have really led the way," Freeman said. "We're batting .350 as a team and we didn't know we would have that kind of a hitting offense. St. Clair and Small have both put up power numbers that have been off the charts. They both have explosive bat speed. They've leveled out their swing some this summer, and they've just hit a ton of line drives.

"We really believed we would have a very good pitching staff this year. And we thought we put together a pretty good hitting group, but we had no idea we would be as successful as we've been."

The Bombers have had a break since July 25, and Freeman thinks it has been beneficial.

"In five weeks we played 27 or 28 games," Freeman said. "Then we went to our state tournament and won it. We were first to finish, then Indiana, Illinois. It's a plus for us. One thing you always worry about is the maturity level, being able to keep focused through a long season. Travel ball is Friday-Saturday-Sunday. But this mimics more of a collegiate summer season where you play every day."

During this time off the team did some intrasquad games and some live situational hitting.

"We got some good reps in and some quality at-bats," Freeman said. "We've got a bunch of resilient kids with good attitudes. I do think the mental break from baseball has been the best part of it."

The GLR runs through Sunday, Aug. 8.

Regional tournament winners advance to the American Legion World Series, set for Aug. 12-18 in Shelby, North Carolina.