TROY – Greenville American Legion Post 140, under the direction of Coach Chad Henry, breezed through the American Legion Regional tournament with a 5-0 shutout over Troy American Legion Post 43 to earn the Regional Championship Title and punch their ticket to the state tournament.
“The composition we have put together and the culture we have created it’s incredible,” said Post 140 coach Chad Henry. “This year, we have the right guys in the right place, and they came out, and credit to them, they played.”
Post 140 went undefeated in regional play defeating Troy 7-1 in the opening round, knocking off Sidney Post 217 by a 3-2 score, and downing Troy Post 43 by a 5-0 count in the championship game.
“We have played a very challenging schedule, the way we always set it up,” Henry stated. “We want to play really good teams, and we want to try and test the kid’s metal. We want to get our mistakes out during the season. We try to learn daily and come out here and give it our best.”
The Teams played to a 0-0 score through the first two innings before Post 140 plated the first run of the game with a one-out single off the bat of Braden Chambers and a two-out Brayden Huggins run-scoring single to center, giving Greenville a 1-0 lead after three complete.
Braeden Wills coaxed a two-out walk in the bottom of the fourth and raced home on an RBI single to right of the bat of Zach Fulk, giving Greenville Post 140 a 2-0 lead with four innings in the book.
“A lot of the stuff you saw out here today and this weekend it’s been done this season,” said Henry. “There’s been successes, there’s been some failure, but we pick ourselves back up, tighten up our boots, and go on to the next play.”
Greenville put the game away in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three runs to lead 5-0. Bryce Kramer led off the inning with a single to center, Nathan Waggoner singled to right, and Huggins legged out a perfect bunt, loading the bases with no outs. Xavier Matthews drilled a two-run single to right, bringing a pitching change for Troy with Post 140 leading 4-0.
Troy’s new pitcher was immediately called for a balk, scoring Huggins with Greenville’s fifth run, which would prove to be the final scoring of the day, giving Post 140 the 5-0 shutout win.
Fulk went the distance for the Greenville win, pitching 7.0 innings, allowing no runs on four hits and two walks while striking out seven.
“We got some incredible pitching performances and not having Blumenstock this weekend. Going in and looking at the situation, it didn’t look that good, but the kids fought,” said Henry. “Nathan Waggoner on Thursday and Layne Hocker on Friday and then Zach Fulk today – you had three just kids absolutely pushing out there on the mound, and it was fun to watch.”
Huggins led Post 140 at the plate, going 3-4 with an RBI and a run; Chambers was 2-3 with a walk and a run; Waggoner 2-3, including a double, a walk and a run; Kramer 1-3 with a run; Fulk 1-4 with an RBI; Mathews 1-3, Adam Edwards 1-3, and Wills a walk and a run.
“They went out there and challenged,” Henry said. “We had some bad at-bats in there, but we always try to go up with intent, this is our intent, and that’s our intent until we get put in a hole and have to adjust, and the kids have really bought into that. We’re not just swinging because they’re strikes, but we swing at pitches we can drive, and the kids are really putting the barrel on the ball when they have to.”
With over 150 wins in eight seasons leading Post 140, Coach Henry will make his coaching debut at state.
“This is my eighth year, and I just haven’t made that appearance yet,” Henry noted. “COVID derailed our best teams. The composition we have put together and the culture we have created is incredible. This year, we have the right guys in the right place, and credit to them, they came out and played.”
Greenville Post 140 will open tournament play Saturday, July 27th, with a 9:30 a.m. start time in the 2024 Senior Tournament at Chillicothe’s Beavers Field, July 26-30.
BOX SCORE
123 456 7 R H E
000 000 0 0 4 0 Troy Post 43
001 130 X 5 11 3 Greenville Post 140
