COVINGTON, Ga. — Fielding a squad comprised mostly of Newton County prep baseball stars, the Covington Post 32 American Legion baseball team will go to battle in the state tournament this weekend.

Post 32 is set to square off against Post 192 from Evans, Ga., in a best-of-three series starting Friday. The winner of the series will advance to the Southeast Regional Tournament in early August.

Led by team manager Bill Dallas, Post 32 is bolstered by a host of familiar names for local high school baseball fans. Among those on this year’s squad are recent Eastside graduates Cade Mitchell, Sambo Button,  Ethan Booth and Mason Poole, Newton’s Zion Ross, Social Circle’s Mason Moore and Piedmont Academy’s Cameron Mobley.

Mitchell, a lanky left-hander who plowed his way through opponents for the Eagles en route to being named The Covington News All-Area Pitcher of the Year for 2021, will get the ball in Game 1. The Chattahoochee Valley Community College commit has been a reliable workhorse on the mound for Post 32 this summer.

Dallas confirmed that he’ll be turning to Mobley, the ace of Cougars staff that helped guide the team to a GISA Class AA state title this spring, in Game 2.

The first game of the best-of-three series was scheduled to be played Friday night at Legions Park off American Legion Rd NE. Game 2 will take place at the same location on Saturday, July 24, with first pitch slated for 2 p.m.

Should the clubs split the first two games of the series, a tie-breaking third game would be played Sunday, July 25, at 2 p.m. at Legions Park.