The rain-shortened American Legion State Tournament will finally have its conclusion when Post 70 takes on Shelby County Post 555 on Thursday at Patterson Field in Montgomery.

Post 70 had just defeated Millbrook 10-0 in the semifinals on Sunday night when they were informed they would have to wait not only to play in the state championship, but wait to hear a time and location.

The announcement finally came one day later. After a little break, Post 70 will try to win its second consecutive state championship on Thursday.

“It has Its pros and cons when taking a break before playing the game,” said head coach Rush Hixon. “Regardless of when we play it, we will be ready to play. Hopefully the break will give us fresh arms and fresh legs.”

Post 70 lost their second game of the tournament to Post 76 on Saturday afternoon. After that, they won back-to-back games while outscoring their opponents 37-1.

“I think if we played the night of the semifinal game we would have had a lot of momentum that could have carried over,” Hixon said. “Obviously, that is not an excuse. It’s a championship game and regardless of the level, if you have a problem getting up for the game, you just have a problem.”

The time off between the semifinal and the championship allows Hixon and the coaching staff to rest and reset their pitching staff.

“Our team is set up to win five games in a tournament,” Hixon said. “We had our number one ready to go for the championship and he will be ready to go on Thursday. We were in a good situation with pitching already – now we are in a great one. If for whatever reason one guy doesn’t have it and we have a short leash, we can get him out of there and get a fresh arm in there.”

Post 70 will take on Post 555 for the first time this summer, but after watching them play in the state tournament, Hixon believes beating them will be a challenge.

“The first time I saw them was at the state tournament. They are very athletic and they have some junior college guys signed to play. If we don’t play our best game we will lose. We are ready for a big challenge.”

First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.