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Race is tight for top seed in county legion tournament

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

With less than a week left in the regular season, the race for the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Montgomery County American Legion tournament remains hot, as perennial contenders Gaithersburg Post 104, Gaithersburg Post 295 and Damascus Post 171 are jockeying for position.

Post 104 (15-6 league record through Monday) looked like it would run away with the regular-season title, but five straight losses last week dropped it back with Post 295 and Damascus, which are both struggling with some tough recent losses of their own.

As of Monday, Post 104 was the frontrunner. Damascus (16-8) was 1.5 games behind, while Post 295 (13-9) was 2.5 behind. Post 104 was scheduled to play Damascus Tuesday night, while Post 295 faced Wheaton Post 268 (2-14). Both games ended too late to be included in this edition.

‘‘Obviously, it was a rough week, and I think you could attribute it to many, many different factors,” Post 104 manager Joe Stolz said. ‘‘We’ll be fine. We have good players and they’re tough-minded and they’ll be fine. We’ve gone through some rough spots at times, but fortunately in American Legion, you play enough games to straighten things out, and what counts in the end is who wins the playoffs. We knew 295 was going to be tough and be there at the end. It’s going to be a war, and nothing’s changed.”

Stolz employs one of the county’s deepest rosters, which will be bolstered this week by the return of team leader Ian Marshall, who missed the last two weeks while on vacation. Post 104 will also welcome catcher Will Greenberg, who has played for another team much of the season, and second baseman Steve Delmar, who concentrated on his golf game this summer.

Post 104’s key mainstays have been Alex Bastow (.362, 17 runs batted in, 16 runs), Bobby Kim (.280, 10 RBI), Rick Phillips (.263, 12 RBI) and Mike Allred (6-0, 0.39 earned-run average).

‘‘I think we have the best team,” Stolz said. ‘‘With Ian back and Will there and Delmar there, we’ll be even better.”

Damascus (22-9 overall) boasts perhaps the county’s best offensive lineup, which is led by Kevin Keith (.403, 7 HRs, 29 RBI, 9 doubles, 26 runs), Blake Beaudoin (.456), Eric Berringer (.426), Daniel Liscinsky (.313, 2 HRs, 12 RBI), Carter Willson (.417, 19 RBI), Brian Moran (.302, 15 RBI) and Harrison Still (.353, 1 HR, 10 RBI).

Post 171, which last won the county title in 2000, stumbled somewhat last weekend, falling to Chaney, 16-3, Saturday behind numerous errors and to Laurel Post 60, 5-4, Sunday. It did, however, upend a solid Pasadena Post 277 squad, 10-5, Sunday and rallied from behind to defeat Gaithersburg Post 295 Monday night.

‘‘We have to win out and hope for a little bit of help,” Damascus manager Kenny Keith said. ‘‘Everybody’s losing so there are all kinds of possibilities in order for us to get the top seed. Realizing we’re sitting with eight losses, we’re in danger if we lose out of not making the playoffs, but I don’t think we will.”

Post 295 has won three straight county tournament titles and two of the past three state championships, but it dropped to third place with five losses in six games. On Monday, the team lost both games of a tough doubleheader against Post 104 and Damascus.

‘‘We have to start hitting,” Gaithersburg manager Rick Price said. ‘‘We’re only scoring three to four runs a game. Our pitching is just wearing down at the end of games. We’ve been through a tough stretch here.”

Race for fourth place

The race for the fourth and final playoff spot is still up for grabs. Laurel (11-11 league), Rockville Post 86 (10-11) and Bethesda Post 105 (10-13) are all firmly in contention. Rockville reached the playoffs as recently as two years ago, breaking a drought that had lasted since 1978.

Post 86 gets two cracks at Laurel this week, including Saturday at Damascus Regional Park, but first-year manager Matt Avery believes his team’s offensive production must improve to reach the postseason. Through Sunday, Rockville was batting .265 as a team.

‘‘We have to start hitting the ball,” Avery said. ‘‘We’re struggling hitting. If the bats come around, we’ll have a pretty good week. We’ve been pitching well and playing defense well.”

Leading the Post 86 pitching staff is Avalon hurler Kevin Fuqua, who had compiled a 3-1 record with two saves and a 1.99 ERA. Offensively, Ryan Jackson (.418, 16 runs), Kevin McTighe (.355, 6 RBI), Trevor Davies (.320, 7 RBI) and Tommy Dugan (.315, 12 runs) have led the way.

Bethesda has made a huge push in recent days, sweeping a doubleheader with Wheaton Post 268 and Rockville Sunday and an 8-7 extra-inning win over Wheaton Monday.

Dorsett back in the dugout

Wheaton manager Bob Dorsett made his return to the dugout last weekend after suffering a heart attack in June. His Post 268 squad welcomed his return with its first two wins of the season, which came against Clinton and Rockville.

‘‘I’m very fortunate,” Dorsett said. ‘‘I’m making myself healthy and doing the doctor’s thing. I feel good. I just went through five ballgames [last weekend], so I’m a little tired. We had a good day [Saturday]. We’re playing the season out.”