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| CONYERS - After four games, it is still undetermined which Post 77 squad reigns supreme in American Legion Baseball. Monday night, Rockdale Post 77 and Conyers Post 77 battled to a split, their second of the season, in a doubleheader at Henson-Carr Legion Field. And both games were tightly contested. Rockdale edged Conyers 5-4 in the first game, while Conyers rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win 6-3 in the nightcap. In the opener, Rockdale went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning off an RBI single by Josh Flippen, scoring Joseph Lester. Conyers countered with three runs in the top of the third inning. Cameron Gibson walked, stole second and eventually scored after two passed balls to account for the first run of the inning. After Ryan Jubran was hit by a pitch, Tyler Austin smashed a two-run homer to give Conyers a 3-1 advantage. Rockdale pulled within one in the bottom of the fourth when Jason Knight's single plated Clark Dickinson. Rockdale regained the lead and never lost it again with a three-run fifth. Rockdale scored the runs off a two-run single by Lester and a solo homer by Nathan Fawbush. Chunk Smith hammered a solo home run in the top of the sixth to make it 5-4, but Rockdale held on for the win. Josh Stephenson got the win on the mound, allowing two earned runs in five innings of work. He struck out three batters, walked one and hit one. In the second game, Rockdale jumped out to another early lead, scoring two runs in the top of the first. Flippen singled, took second on a wild pitch, stole third, then scored on another wild pitch. After Jo Jo Bonet walked, Lester drove him in with an RBI triple - his second three-bagger of the night. But the lead didn't last as Conyers struck for three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Conyers scored its runs off RBI singles by Patrick Jansen, Gibson and Taylor Lamb. Conyers made it 4-2 in the bottom of the third off another RBI single by Lamb. Rockdale pulled within one in the top of the fifth off two singles by Dickinson and Chris Boyd and a Conyers throwing error. However, Conyers tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth off singles by Gibson and Lamb and a Rockdale error, making the final tally 6-3. Austin got the win after seven solid innings on the hill. He fanned eight batters and walked two. Rockdale manager Jack Murphy admitted he wasn't entirely disappointed to get a split with Conyers. "For us to face Jake Dyer in the first game and Tyler Austin in the second game, and still come away with a split, that was OK with me. It doesn't get much better than that," Murphy said. "Those are probably the best two pitchers we've faced all season." Despite the split, Conyers is now in first place in the North Georgia Area standings, thanks in part to a number of forfeits by Loganville. Conyers sits atop the standings with a 10-2 record, while Rockdale is in second at 8-3. Brandon Evans can be reached at brandon.evans@rockdalecitizen.com |
Post 77 teams at top of area standings By Brandon Evans Sports Writer CONYERS - Both Conyers Post 77 and Rockdale Post 77 have had solid starts to the American Legion baseball season as the two teams sit atop the North Georgia Area standings. Rockdale, coached by Jack Murphy, has a 5-1 record and holds the No. 1 spot in the area. Meanwhile, Conyers, led by Eddie Bagwell, sits in second place with a 6-2 area record. The two teams will meet next week at Henson-Carr Legion Field. Rockdale improved to 5-1 in area play after sweeping Douglasville on Tuesday. Rockdale won 7-2 in the opener and 2-0 in the nightcap. In the first game, Douglasville went up 1-0 in the top of the first inning. But Rockdale tied it up in the bottom of the second off an RBI single by Joseph Lester. Rockdale made it 3-1 in the fourth off an RBI double by Jeremy Riehn and an RBI groundout by Lester. Douglasville added one run in the fifth, but Rockdale increased its lead to 7-2 in the bottom half of the inning off a two-run double by Nathan Fawbush and RBI singles by Riehn and Jo Jo Bonet. Alan Futch got the win on the mound, allowing just one earned run in five innings of work. In the second game, Josh Stevenson took the mound and was virtually untouchable Stevenson allowed just two hits in seven innings of work as Rockdale won 2-0. Rockdale's first run came in the bottom of the fourth off a solo homer by Riehn. The other run of the game came in the bottom of the fifth when Futch scored on a wild pitch. Rockdale collected a split with Loganville on Saturday, losing the first game 12-9 before winning 9-4 in the second game. Grayson forfeited two games to Rockdale on Sunday. But after sweeping Douglasville on Monday, Murphy feels his team might have finally found its stride. "We're playing pretty good baseball right now. The pitching has been really good," Murphy said. "I'm real pleased with the progress the team has made this season. We're starting to come together and they're playing a lot better defensively." Things seem to be looking up for Bagwell and company, too. Conyers Post 77 recently won its make-up game with Loganville on Tuesday, claiming a 9-5 victory at West Walton Park. Tyler Austin got the win on the mound after allowing just one earned run in six innings of work. He struck out six batters and walked one. Conyers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first off an RBI single by Nick Matteen. They increased their lead to 3-0 in the third off an Austin sacrifice flyout RBI and a Patrick Jansen RBI double. But Loganville scored two runs in the fourth inning and three in the sixth to take a 5-3 lead. However, Conyers struck for six runs in the top of the seventh to go ahead 9-5. The runs came off an RBI double by Taylor Lamb, a bases-loaded walk, a two-run single by Jansen, a passed ball and a suicide squeeze bunt by Ryan Jubran. Bagwell said the win was big as the team tries to jockey for position in the area tournament. "We've got four big games against Jack's team (Rockdale Post 77) and two more games against Douglasville, so we pretty much control our own destiny," Bagwell said. |
| Conyers posts 2-2 record in Savannah By Brandon Evans Sports Writer CONYERS - Conyers Post 77 went 2-2 over the weekend at a baseball tournament in Savannah. After edging Savannah Chain 1-0 in its tournament opener Friday, Conyers split its two games on Saturday against two 18-and-under teams. Conyers wrapped up play Sunday, losing 3-2 in a nail-biter to the OTC Bearcats. "I was very pleased with the play until the last day," Conyers Post 77 manager Eddie Bagwell said. "The first three games, we did every part of the game very well. We played good defense, we hit the ball well and we pitched really well. Sunday, we didn't catch the ball real well, we made six errors. That's been our nemesis all year long. When we don't take care of the ball, we lose. "Our pitching and hitting has been coming around very nicely. We got good starts out of Clint Ogle, Kelvan Diaz, Patrick Jansen and Jake Dyer. We got relief out of Chase Ware, Bobby Coggins, Nick Matteen and Travis Tarleton. It was obvious that we were swinging the bats a lot better. We just couldn't finish the tournament with good defense, and that kind of came back to bite us." On Saturday, Conyers kicked off the day with a 10-0 win over Prospects. Diaz got the win on the mound, allowing six hits and no runs in six innings of work. He also struck out five batters. Conyers scored three runs in the top of the first inning off an RBI double by Tarleton and a two-run double by Diaz. Conyers added a run in the fourth to build a 4-0 lead before breaking the game open with a six-run sixth inning. Conyers scored the runs off an RBI single by Coggins, a hit batsman with the bases loaded, a two-run double by Matteen and a two-run single by Tarleton. At 10-0, the game was called after Prospects failed to score in the bottom of the sixth. Later in the day, Conyers ran into some tough competition, falling 8-2 to Line Drives. "They are an 18-and-under team that has 12 Division I players on it," Bagwell said. "They're good." Chunk Smith accounted for both of Post 77's runs. Smith's fielder's choice with the bases loaded scored Tarleton in the bottom of the first. He also smacked a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth. Conyers finished play Sunday, losing a one-run game to the OTC Bearcats. Conyers fell behind 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning before Smith's RBI single made it 1-1 in the top of the second. The Bearcats regained the lead in the bottom of the second, but Conyers tied it up again in the top of the fourth. That was as close as Conyers got as the Bearcats scored again in the bottom of the sixth and held on for the 3-2 win. Despite an overall mediocre performance at the tournament, two Conyers players really caught the attention of one coach. "Chunk Smith and Taylor Lamb both had good tournaments. Coach (Carlton) Hardy was really impressed with them," Bagwell said. "He liked the way they hustled and the way they went about their business, and he invited both of them to come play at Savannah State next year, so I was real happy for them. "Chunk swung the bat extremely well all weekend. He also threw out the only base runner that tried to steal on him all weekend. Taylor Lamb also swung the bat extremely well and played pretty good at third base. I have no complaints. They both have an opportunity now to play college baseball, and hopefully they'll make the most of it." Conyers returns to action Thursday at Loganville in a make-up game. |
| Conyers defeats Savannah Record improves to 7-5 By Brandon Evans Sports Writer SAVANNAH - Conyers Post 77 bumped its record to 7-5 on the season after beating Savannah Chain 1-0 in a pitcher's duel Friday. Conyers received strong pitching from three hurlers as the trio combined for a two-hitter. Clint Ogle pitched 5 1⁄3 innings, gave up one hit, struck out five batters and walked one. Chase Ware came on and finsihed off the inning, allowing one hit. Nick Matteen got the win after pitching hitless baseball the last two innings of the game. Conyers scored its only run in the top of the eighth inning on a bases-loaded walk. Ryan Jubran drew the walking, scoring Taylor Lamb. Post 77 manager Eddie Bagwell said he was pleased to get the win. "This was a good win against a quality ball club," Bagwell said. "The teams in this tournament are 18-and-under showcase teams, so the quality of players is extremely high. For us to pull one out like that was huge." Bagwell said the key to victory was solid pitching and defense. "We got a great pitching performance out of Clint, and we finally played some defense," Bagwell said. "We didn't make an error. That really makes a difference in a game like that. Now, we've just got to keep it going in the tournament." Conyers has two games slated for today. The first will be against against Prospect 18, while the second is against Line Drives. |
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| CONYERS - The Conyers Post 77 American Legion baseball team could not overcome a tirade of hits administered by Loganville Post 233 in doubleheader play Monday, losing both games, 15-6 and 12-3. Although Post 77 faired better when it met Loganville a week ago, winning 8-3, it was a different story this time around. In the first game, Loganville jumped to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning off three hits by Post 77 starter Patrick Jansen. Loganville locked in on Jansen from the very beginning, scoring in six of seven innings, including 14 hits and a solo home run by catcher Ryan Kirkland. The hometown club, which features three Newton County high school players, was disappointed in its performance against what coach Eddie Bagwell deemed "a very good team." "When you go up against a team that good you just can't give them more opportunities than they deserve, and we did," Bagwell said. The second game was no reprieve for Post 77, with Loganville tallying as many hits as it did in the opener. But it was the fifth inning that was the deciding frame, when Loganville exploded for six runs off Clint Ogle. "I have to take the blame for the loss," Bagwell said. "I take full responsibility for the loss. I should have been more aggressive as a coach. I need to do better in preparing my guys for these games." Despite the losses, Bagwell has high hopes regarding his squad's position at this point in the season. "We gave ourselves a chance by winning the first five games," he said. Bagwell pointed out several positives against Loganville, making him all the more confident in his team's ability. "I was pleased with what (Eastside's) Bobby Coggins and Ogle did at the plate," Bagwell said. "I was also pleased with the performance of Jansen and Ogle on the mound." Coggins went 3-for-4 in the loss. "We aren't down," Coggins said. "We will learn from this and go on." That being said, Conyers Post 77 is 5-2 at the midway point in area play, and right on course for an area championship. "Our team is embarrassed with its performance, just as I am with my coaching," Bagwell noted. "Believe me, we'll be ready the next time we hit the field." |
| Loganville hands Conyers first two losses By Brandon Evans Sports Writer CONYERS - Conyers Post 77 suffered its first setback of the season, abruptly followed by its second, as Loganville collected a doubleheader sweep of Conyers on Monday at Henson-Carr Legion Field. Conyers (5-2) dropped the opening game of the twin bill 15-6 before being run-ruled 12-2 in six innings in the nightcap. "We had a rough night all the way around," Conyers manager Eddie Bagwell said. "Still, I have to give Loganville credit - they're a good ball club and Jimmy Hughes does a good job coaching them." Errors and missed opportunities plagued Conyers in the loss, Bagwell said. "You can't give a good ball club four, five and six outs an inning and expect to keep them off the board," he said. "Our pitching pitched well enough to win, we just didn't play good enough defense behind our guys." Still, Bagwell said the loss should not be entirely attributed to the play of his players. "In no way, shape or form am I trying to put the loss all on our guys. I take a lot of responsibility for the loss, too," he said. "I wasn't on my game at all. I wasn't mentally prepared or mentally as focused as I needed to be." Loganville jumped out quickly on Conyers in the opener, taking a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Loganville then added single runs in the second and third to lead 6-0. Conyers finally got on the board in the bottom of the third off an RBI double by Travis Tarleton, which scored Nick Matteen. Loganville added two more runs to go up 8-1 in the top of the fourth. Conyers did make it a game again in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the seven-run lead to three. The four-run fifth was highlighted by an RBI single by Patrick Jansen, an RBI double by Kelvan Diaz and a two-run double by Clint Ogle. However, Loganville added three more runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh to make it 15-5. Conyers added one run in its last at-bat off an RBI single by Diaz, but it was too little, too late. Things didn't begin much better for Conyers in the second game as Loganville went up 2-0 in the top of the second. In fact, Conyers' offense was pretty much nonexistent in the nightcap. Chunk Smith scored the only two runs for Conyers. Smith scored off an RBI single by Bobby Coggins in the bottom of the second and again off an RBI double by Diaz in the fourth. Meanwhile, Loganville scored at will until the 10-run rule was invoked in the sixth inning after Loganville built a 12-2 lead. Conyers will try to get back on the winning track in the MIA-POW Tournament, which starts Thursday in Douglasville. |
CONYERS - Rockdale Post 77 and the Gainesville A's went run-for-run through seven innings until a 10-run eighth inning gave Rockdale (2-1) a 14-4 win Thursday at Henson-Carr Legion Field. "We just finally got some breaks and just kept on scoring. Baseball's funny, you just get on a roll and everything works out," Rockdale manager Jack Murphy said. "We're working through it. I've said all along that we're a work in progress, but this was good." Joseph Lester's aggressive base running, stealing second and third base and scoring on a wild pitch, got things going as Rockdale opened the floodgates in the eighth. Chris Boyd drove in a run before Jo Jo Bonet and Alan Futch each brought in two more base runners with two outs to make it 10-4. Rockdale scored two more runs on an error before Boyd drove in Jeremy Riehn and scored the game-ending run on a J.C. Dunagan single. Rockdale had seven hits in the eighth inning, equaling the amount they had through seven innings, as it sent 13 batters to the plate. "Once everyone starts hitting, it's contagious," Murphy said. "I always thought pitching was going to be our strength all along and then the hitting would come along." While pitching was solid for Post 77, errors played a big part in keeping Gainesville in the game. Three of the A's four runs were results of errors. Errors could have cost Rockdale more runs in the first inning if not for Nathan Fawbush's pitching. Gainesville had runners on first and third base in the top of the first, both because of errors, before Fawbush got Bucky Free to hit the ball back to the pitchers mound for the easy out. Gainesville scored an unearned run in the third to tie the game at 2. The A's added runs in third and fifth innings as a result of bobbled singles. If the ball had been fielded cleanly both times, the runners would not have been able to advance. "For seven innings it was tight. If we play error-free baseball, we're OK," Murphy said. Pacing Rockdale in the game with two hits each were Marcus Smith, Dunagan, Fawbush, Bonet and Boyd. Of Post 77's 14 hits, four went for extra bases with Fawbush hitting a triple and Futch, Riehn and Boyd going for two-baggers. Stevenson got the win pitching one inning where he had one strikeout. Also pitching for Rockdale were Fawbush (four strikeouts, one walk, two hits), Dickerson (four strikeouts, three hits) and Futch (two strikeouts, one walk, two hits). "Our pitching is good, we're good with pitching. Josh got in and finished the last inning and we were going to let him finish up the game," Murphy said. "I'm pleased right now. Gainesville was last year's state champ and went to the Southeast regional, and I heard they were a strong team." |
| LOGANVILLE - Conyers Post 77 topped Loganville 8-3 on Thursday at West Walton Park. Conyers manager Eddie Bagwell has now led his team to a perfect 5-0 start with the victory over Loganville being the biggest win yet. "Loganville has got a good ball squad. They have a lot of returning guys from last year's team," Bagwell said. "They're an older team and they have a lot of experience." The two teams had originally scheduled a doubleheader on Thursday, but rain forced the second game of the twin bill to be canceled. Jake Dyer got the win on the mound against Loganville. Dyer pitched 51⁄3 innings, scattered five hits, struck out five and walked four. All three of Loganville's runs were unearned. Travis Tarleton came on and pitched the last 12⁄3 innings. He surrendered two hit and allowed no runs. But it wasn't what Tarleton did on the mound that highlighted the win for Conyers. It was what he did with the bat. Tarleton accounted four five RBIs on the day, including a huge three-run homer that broke open the game in the sixth inning. Conyers drew first blood in the top of the first when Dyer doubled and Tarleton brought him home with an RBI single. Conyers took a 2-0 lead later in the inning off an RBI single by Nick Matteen, which scored Tarleton. However, Loganville took the lead in the bottom of the third inning off two singles, a walk, a fielder's choice and a Post 77 error. After a couple of scoreless innings, Conyers tied it up in the top of the fifth off another RBI single by Tarleton. This one also scored Dyer. Conyers opened the floodgates in its next at-bat with a five-run fifth inning. Matteen started the show with a double, and after an intentional walk to Tyler Austin, Kelvan Diaz smacked an RBI single to plate Matteen and give Conyers back the lead, 4-3. Dyer then padded Post 77's lead with an RBI single, plating Austin. But it wasn't until Tarleton hit a three-run bomb over the wall in center field that the game was no longer in doubt. "He (Tarleton) had a great game. We always felt like he was a clutch hitter, and now we know why," Conyers manager Eddie Bagwell said. "He stepped up in clutch situations and delivered five RBIs for us. That was huge." Conyers plays Loganville again on Monday at Henson-Carr Legion Field in another scheduled doubleheader. |
| CONYERS - Baseball fans in Rockdale County will have the distinct honor of having two American Legion Post 77 teams this summer. Former Conyers Post 77 coach Jack Murphy is coming out of retirement to lead another Post 77-sponsored team, aptly named Rockdale Post 77. Murphy said there are several reasons why he is coming out of retirement to coach baseball again. "There are many talented baseball players in this area. I felt we had a need, as well as the ability, to have another Post 77 team," he said. "I coached the old Post 77 team for many years, and I really didn't have to do much to build the team. They were the best players in the area, and all I had to do is sign them up. This team is a brand new team that will also be sponsored by American Legion Post 77. I guess I want to show people that I can build a competitive team with a new group of players. Also, I just enjoy being on the baseball field and I missed coaching." Rockdale Post 77 will play and practice on the same field as Conyers Post 77 - Henson-Carr Legion Field - only they will alternate practice times and game times. "Eddie (Bagwell) still has the No. 1 team in Conyers," Murphy said. "But we were still able to get some very good players from around here." Topping the list of local players are Joseph Lester and Jo Jo Bonet. Lester played center field for Heritage this past season, while Bonet played two years ago for the Patriots. Murphy also landed three solid players from Newton High School in Kinley Bryant, Chris Boyd and Reginald Kelly. Murphy said the rest of his team will be made up of players from Union Grove, Monticello and Piedmont Academy. Although Murphy said his new team will need time to develop chemistry, he feels it has what it takes to be competitive in the league. "I think with a little time and hard work this team will be very competitive," he said. "I didn't schedule any area games until the end of June so that we'll have the chance to build the pitching staff and give them the best opportunity to win." Rockdale's first game was last night on the road against Canton. The squad's first home game of the season is Saturday, a doubleheader against Snellville. The action begins at 1:30 p.m. at Henson-Carr Legion Field. |
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| CONYERS - Conyers Post 77 moved to 4-0 on the season after sweeping the Grayson River Rats on Monday night at Henson-Carr Legion Field. Conyers cruised in the opening game of the twinbill, winning 7-0. In the nightcap, however, Conyers needed a little late-inning magic to pull out the 5-4 win. In the opener, Conyers scored two runs in the first inning, two in the second, one in the sixth and two in the seventh. Chunk Smith smacked a two-run single in the bottom of the first inning to put Conyers up 2-0. In the second, Ryan Jubran doubled and took second on a passed ball before scoring on a Grayson throwing error. The second run of the inning came when Nick Matteen scored on a fielder's choice by Patrick Jansen. Matteen first got on with a walk before taking second on a passed ball. After three scoreless innings, Conyers loaded the bases in the sixth off consecutive singles by Matteen, Jared Trust and Jake Dyer. Matteen eventually scored on a Grayson error to make it 5-0. Conyers strung together three straight singles in the seventh. The third, by Jubran, scored Taylor Lamb. Smith, who had the second single, eventually scored on a passed ball. Patrick Jansen got the win in Game 1 of the doubleheader, pitching seven scoreless innings. Jansen scattered four hits, walked one batter and struck out four. Playing as the away team in the nightcap, Conyers fell behind 1-0 in the bottom of the first and trailed 2-0 after two innings. However, Conyers scored three runs in the top of the third to take a 3-2 lead. After Jubran singled, both Kelvan Diaz and Matteen reached on Grayson errors. Jubran scored on the second error, while Diaz advanced to third on the second error and later scored on a passed ball. Matteen scored on a sacrifice fly by Jake Dyer. Grayson tied it up with a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth and the River Rats took the lead 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth. But in Post 77's last at-bat, Diaz opened the inning by reaching on a Grayson error. Diaz almost ran out the throw to first anyway, but it was off-line, allowing him to scamper to second. The next batter, Matteen, hit into a fielder's choice, but Grayson was unable to get Diaz at third. So with no outs, Conyers had runners on first and third. Matteen stole second, but the next two batters struck out. The next batter, Travis Tarleton hit a long fly ball to the left fielder, but he was unable to come up with it, which allowed both Diaz and Matteen to score. Matteen came on to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, and thanks to a finely turned double play, Conyers held on for the win. Conyers manager Eddie Bagwell said he was happy to come away with the sweep. "We took advantage of the opportunities provided for us," Bagwell said. "We were definitely pleased with the first game. Patrick (Jansen) pitched very well." Clint Ogle started the second game on the mound for Conyers and struck out three in 42⁄3 innings of work. Chase Ware came on in middle relief and pitched 11⁄3 innings, while Matteen got the save after pitching a scoreless seventh. Conyers plays again Thursday at Loganville. |
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