Troy American Legion Post 70 scored a combined 31 runs in two games on Sunday afternoon. After knocking off Mattoon Post 88 17-3, Post 70 knocked off Pontotoc 14-6 to claim the 2019 Independence Day Classic in Columbia Tennessee.

“We played our brand of baseball and beat some really good teams to win another championship,” said head coach Rush Hixon. “I could not be any prouder of the way our guys finished the tournament.”

Post 70 dropped the first two games of the tournament before rattling off four-straight wins.

“I was really proud of the way our guys responded after dropping our first two games of pool play by one run a piece,” Hixon said. “We felt like we had chances to win both of those games, but didn’t get it done. I challenged them to come out with a different competition level once bracket play started.”

TJ Mclaughlin got the start and pitched 2.2 innings and allowed two earned runs, three total, on four hits and three walks. Dalton Grider picked up two outs on the mound, while Wood Jinright pitched 2.2 innings and allowed just one hit.

Troy finished with 13 hits led by Joey Wozniak who went 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Reed Jinright, Bryce Peavy, Cole Smith and Carson Fain each had two hits.

Down 1-0 after the first inning, Post 70 scored five runs in the second to gain a 5-1 advantage.

After a double by Fain, Post 70 had back-to-back RBI triples by Reed Jinright and Slade Simmons to give Post 70 a 4-1 lead. They scored their final run on a double by Wozniak.

Post 70 added two runs in the third, three runs in the fourth, a run in the fifth and three final runs in the sixth.