The American Legion baseball season has been underway since the beginning of June and the Covington Post #32 A’s team has continued their tradition of winning by amassing a record of 11-2 at the mid-season point. The team is once again led by veteran Coach Bill Dallas and his assistant Coach Eddie Bagwell.
The American Legion Baseball League was founded in 1925 and has been organized and sponsored by our nation’s veterans for the past 90 years. The league provides a competitive local, State, Regional and National tournament format for young men up to the age of 19 years. Coach Dallas commented, “I have a great group of kids this year that are a pleasure to coach.” He continued by saying, “We have good pitching and good defense. If the team continues to play hard and respect the game, good results will follow.”
The Post #32 A’s began their season by traveling to Alabama to compete in the Tuscaloosa Post #34’s Killian-Windham Invitational Tournament. The Covington squad emerged as the tournament champions as they dispatched teams from Alabama and Mississippi.
Coach Dallas has assembled a strong well-rounded team for 2015 led by a pitching staff comprised of Gray Ritchey (Eastside HS-Sr.), Luke Schwartz (Walnut Grove HS-grad.), Matthew Childtree (Strong Rock HS-grad), Hunter Ballard (Middle Georgia State-Fr.) and anchored by Dalton Reagin (Univ. of West Georgia-So.). The assembled staff of hurlers have only allowed an average of 3.15 runs per game. Catching duties for the staff are handled by Josh Fellows (Georgia College-Fr.), Mark Beddington (Alcovy-Sr.) and Ballard.
The A’s also took a trip to Columbus, GA to compete in the River City Classic where the team was afforded the opportunity to play on the historic field of the 89 year old Golden Park Stadium. The Post #32 team went 3-1 at the weekend exposure tournament. The offense for the Covington team has been well balanced throughout the lineup as the A’s have outscored their opponents by a 100-41 margin.
The infield duties are handled by Hank Steele (Middle Georgia State-So.) and Blake Shope (Alcovy HS-Sr.) up the middle and Dallis Forsyth (Social Circle HS-Jr.) and Chase Raines (Eastside HS-Sr.) on the corners. Covering the outfield for the Covington team are Jordan Scott (IMG Academy-Fr.), Bryce Shupe (ABAC-Fr.), Jared Jones (Middle Georgia State-Fr.) and Stevie Howard (Social Circle HS-Jr.).
The Post #32 team has filled the rest of the season to date playing local games against other American Legion Post teams. With only a handful of local regular season games remaining, the focus for Coach Dallas and the A’s is on the upcoming State Tournament where they hope to repeat as State Champions (the State Tournament this year is being held July 23-27 in Loganville).
You can catch the Post #32 A’s in action on July 11th at 11:00am at West Walton Park in Loganville or on July 14th at 7:00pm at Legion Field in Conyers.
