Summer Blending

There is a common saying in sports that defense wins championships.

In baseball, that starts on the pitching mound and for Harrisburg American Legion Post 167 and head coach Cody Hall, having an artillery of pitching arms is the right recipe for success.

Post 167 will run out some 11 pitchers to the mound this season and after his first year as head coach, Hall knows there is a slim margin for error in order to win a district title.

"We will have plenty of pitching and that's what you need to compete for a championship," he said. "We have 11 guys on the team that have pitching experience from their respective teams and we look to use every bit of those arms. We expect to score a lot of runs and play good defense, but after last year, we look to focus a lot on defense and attacking the baseball at the plate.

"Our strength is that we have guys returning from last years team that know what our coaching staff expects and understand the competition."

Returning to the lineup this year are Kale Oglesby (Eldorado), Ben Byrd (Eldorado), Bronson Stanley (Galatia), Cameron Wendler (Harrisburg), Josh Turnage (Crab Orchard), Ethan Ashby (Crab Orchard) and Dallas Reynolds (Crab Orchard).

There will be plenty of fresh faces as well. Hall and Post 167 welcome Garrett Rushing (Gallatin County), Cameron Stephens (Crab Orchard), Payton Miller (Crab Orchard), Brayden Ditterline (Cobden), Hunter Cullum (Hardin County), Nick Walker (Pope County), Gabe Fowler (Pope County), Seth Quetermous (Crab Orchard) and Kent Cletcher (Harrisburg).

Nine new guys can have its pros and cons and if there is a weakness early on, Hall says it will be the team chemistry with the older guys gelling with the new ones.

"We are looking forward to getting those (new) guys and having a few more extra practices to get the players familiar with each other and bring together what we like to call a 'Family' atmosphere. We look to bounce back in 2018 and turn some heads with the amount of competitors we have on the team."

Post 167 went  9-15 last year and finished third in the District Tournament. Hall beefed up this summer schedule that will now include a five-game road trip the Metro East July 6-8 against what he calls "some really, really good ball clubs."

"We put together a schedule with some new teams on there so that way we can see some different competition."

Hall also added a few assistant coaches to help with game day operations. Trey Sigler (Eldorado) and Jordan Gould (Harrisburg) will be first year assistant coaches. Patrick Bittle (Harrisburg) will be in his second season, along with Hall's brother Kyle, who will be in charge of the pitching staff.

"I'm really looking forward to coaching alongside my brother again and having him run our pitching staff. With the amount of knowledge he brings, I really couldn't pick a better person calling pitches and coaching legion baseball with. He grew up playing legion ball and was once a player for Post 167 and knows what it takes to win Legion games.

"I also look forward to getting guys like Trey Sigler in the dugout and coaching. He brings a lot of energy and knowledge. We will also have former players like Patrick Bittle and Jordan Gould alongside coaching and what two better former players than these two guys, they have a ton of energy and a lot of passion for the game."

Harrisburg Post 167 will start its season at home on May 30 against McLeansboro Post 106 in a doubleheader, starting at 6 p.m.

Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois Local Media News Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.