Rockdale Post 77 is ahead of every team in their region of American Legion baseball by a dominating amount, with the exception of Loganville Post 233.
The two teams meet up tonight at Loganville, and were set to face Monday at Rockdale before inclement weather stopped the game after 2 ½ innings.
Rockdale, which has just one loss in 22 games this season is two games better than Loganville, leaving it as Post 77's only challenge to the No. 1 seed in the state tournament, beginning July 26.
Rockdale started its preparations for the state playoffs this weekend as it got to play everybody on the roster and send five pitchers to the mound in a double header against Cumming Post 307.
Greg Preston pitched five innings in the opener of the doubleheader, giving up one run and only two hits.
Rockdale's bats did the rest, ending the seven-inning contest in five innings with an 11-1 victory.
Preston helped himself with the bat, going 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Keith Buckhault, of Eastside, went 3 for 3 with a walk to provide Post 77's offensive spark.
Rockdale scored six runs in the first, added another in the second and another in the fifth. Post 77 plated three runs in the sixth for the 10-run rule.
Eastside alumni Randy Loew pitched the fifth inning for Rockdale.
Cumming went with a unconventional strategy in the first game of the doubleheader, using a different pitcher each inning.
The strategy may have cost it in the nightcap as Rockdale scored 15 runs in the first inning. Post 77 went on to win 21-4 in five innings.
"I know he was trying to throw us off balance," Murphy said. "But to come back in the second game and want to start one of those kids who pitched in the first game, he's not going to be as sharp."
Rockdale took advantage, sending 21 batters to the plate in the first inning and held on from there with Cole Hamilton pitching three innings.
Hamilton gave up four hits, including a two-run home run, and had three strikeouts.
Cumming got on the scoreboard in the third inning with the two-run homer and added two more unearned runs in the fourth innings.
Post 77 added four runs in the second inning, before notching two more in the bottom of the fourth.
"The whole team had a good day offensively," Murphy said. "We scored at the top, the bottom and in between. We got everybody in the ball game. Everybody on the team had a hit, that is a position player."
Relieving Hamilton was Daniel Jackson in the fourth inning, giving up two unearned runs, and Jake Wright in the fifth. Wright struck out all three of the batters he faced in the final inning of the day.
"The main thing was we got Daniel Jackson a little work in the game and got Jake Wright to throw some," Murphy said. "That was our plan, to get as many pitchers in there as we could."
Murphy and Rockdale will continue to try to get pitchers some time on the mound as state approaches, with as few as five pitchers having to throw and as many as 12.
Counting two makeup games against Loganville, Rockdale has five games left before the playoffs.
"All we have to do is take care of business with everybody else and let us and Loganville play it out to see who ends up with the No. 1 seed," Murphy said.
