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Post 171 gets a win, not much else, in Pa.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Rain played havoc with Damascus Post 171’s schedule last week, but that could turn out to be a good thing for the American Legion baseball team in the long run.

Post 171 (16-6 overall, 13-5 Montgomery League) was slated to play a total of five games at the Penn State Tournament last weekend, but the torrential downpours that blanketed Maryland also pummeled Pennsylvania, resulting in the cancellation of four games.

Although Damascus manager Kenny Keith would have rather played those contests, the rest could be just what his team needed with about four weeks left in the regular season and a three-game tournament in Pennsylvania coming up this weekend.

‘‘We’re definitely going to be rested” for Wednesday’s important contest with Gaithersburg Post 295, Keith said. ‘‘They were looking a little tired, and I was wondering if they’d have enough at the end. It appears that they will. The league is very tight right now. We’re right in the thick of [the playoff race].”

Before heading to Pennsylvania last weekend, Damascus dropped a disappointing 3-2 loss to Rockville Post 86 last Wednesday. Right-handed pitcher Scott Elliott looked good in going for his second win of the season against Post 86, but two wild pitches late in the contest allowed Rockville to pull out the win.

Earlier this season, Elliott beat Rockville, 6-4, behind lots of suicide-squeeze bunts from his teammates in a wooden-bat contest. Both teams decided to use wooden bats against each other throughout the season after a vote requiring all Montgomery County legion teams to do so failed.

That decision may have cost Post 171 last week’s contest, in which the team’s normally heavy-hitting lineup was somewhat stymied by the hardware switch.

‘‘I think that hurt us,” Keith said. ‘‘We’ve been pounding the ball pretty hard against everybody. It’s a shame Scott lost that game. We didn’t support him offensively.”

Damascus rallied for a 16-0 thrashing of Kissing, an American Legion team from Pittsburgh, in the first game of the Penn State Tournament Thursday. Carter Willson had four hits and Kevin Keith slapped three hits, including a three-run homer. Austin Bernardo and Daniel Liscinsky had three hits apiece, while left-hander Brian Moran earned the shutout victory on the hill.

Damascus will head back to Pennsylvania for three games.