Post 70’s American Legion’s 15U baseball team won the state tournament this weekend, defeating Hartselle12-3 in the championship game.

“We probably played our best game of the year,” said head coach Brett Price. “We hit the ball, pitched well and played really good defense. It was an exciting game, we started clicking on all cylinders at the right time.”

Troy started the tournament by getting a confortable win over Cullman. They followed that victory with a loss to Athens leaving Troy in a three-way tie. The tiebreaker sent Troy to the semifinals, where they beat West Limestone 4-1.

Troy’s championship game against Hartselle was a rematch from last years state championship game in which Hartselle walked with away with the championship.

“Throughout the entire tournament the guys competed very well and played hard,” Price said. “We were focused on trying to win and get the little things right. I told them if they continued to do those things everything will click. The whole team competed and had their roles. They played well and were all supportive.”

Catcher DJ Law was named Most Valuable Player for the tournament, going 4-4 in the semifinal round.

Nathan Renfroe pitched well for Troy.

“He has been a guy that has pitched really well for us all year,” Price said. “He pitched some really good innings.”

Cole Smith also pitched well for Troy, following his appearance in Troy’s lone loss he battled back and had a successful tournament.

“He pitched well for us all year as well,” Price said. “We started him in the Athens game, he just didn’t have his stuff. He bounced back in his next game when he pitched the last few innings against West Limestone and it was probably the best he has thrown all year.”

Post 70 entered a tournament against a field of teams that they had not seen leading into the weekend. Price’s message to the team was to play their game.

“I told them I was extremely confident,” Price said. “That if they were going to be able to do that then they will be there in the end with a chance to win it all, and that’s what happened.”

The state championship closes out the season on a high note for coach Price and Post 70.

“It was a good way for the guys to finish the summer season,” Price said. “Hopefully they have some confidence they can carry with them back to their school program.

Price believes the experience helped his team win state, and the effort spent this summer will better prepare the players for next year’s school seasons.

“I tried to teach the game of baseball the right way,” Price said. “I told them to control only things that can be controlled, which is effort, focus, and energy level. If they took anything out of this experience, I would hope that it would be that.”