In the zone

Pittsburg Post 64 finished its regular season 27-11 and moves into the postseason Thursday when it hosts Lawrence and Tonganoxie for Zone — three teams in a double-elimination tournament competing for two spots in the Class AAA State Tournament in Manhattan (Aug. 1-5).

Post 64 head coach Mike Watt said that he knows very little about Tonganoxie and knows a good deal more about the Lawrence Raiders.

That’s interesting because Post 64 and the Raiders have not played each other this summer — however, each team played in the most recent Pittsburg Legion/Fort Scott Community College Classic at JayCee Ballpark.

Post 64 earlier played in a tournament in Lawrence — facing Lawrence Red and Lawrence Black — but the Raiders were in a different tourney that weekend. Post 64 owns a 3-0 record this summer against teams from Lawrence, beating Lawrence Free State along with Red and Black.

“We’re very similar teams,” Watt said of Post 64 and the Raiders. “We’re both very fast, very athletic teams and we hit the ball similar. It should be a very good matchup.”

Lawrence and Tonganoxie play first at 4 p.m., Thursday. Pittsburg awaits the winner in the nightcap. Watt estimates a 7:30 p.m. start — given that Lawrence and Tonganoxie will play at least seven innings and the run-rule does not kick in until a 10-run lead after seven. At this point of the season, games are nine innings.

Post 64 won four of its last five games entering Zone, including three of four last weekend in the Red Raven Classic hosted by Coffeyville Community College — a showcase tournament similar to ones held at JayCee.

“We’ve matured into a very nice ballclub,” Watt said. “We’re athletic, we run well, pitch well and play good defense. We’re a solid team.”

However, Watt mentioned one concern entering money time — a sporadic offensive attack.

“We need to improve offensively when we get to state,” Watt said. “If we could get our team batting average 30 points higher, we’d be a difficult team to beat.”

Post 64 bats .308 as a team with an on-base percentage of .425.

“At times, we’re a very good hitting team,” Watt said. “The opposing pitchers have a lot to do with that.”

Sam Gilbert paces the offense with a .430 average, .517 on-base percentage, three home runs and 33 RBI, as well as a second-best 17 stolen bases. He knocked two homers in the most recent Pittsburg Legion/FSCC Classic.

“He’s hit the ball consistently all summer long,” Watt said of Gilbert.

Dylan Gromer hits .400 and reaches base 48.1 percent of the time. Cody Grilz bats .391, ranks second behind Gilbert with a .491 on-base percentage and ranks third on Post 64 with 22 RBI — seemingly playing his best ball in the last two showcase tournaments. After the .391 mark of Grilz, it’s a 73-point drop until we find Christian Cedeno batting .318.

Brett Macary and Matt Standlee have 26 and 21 RBI, respectively — four players have more than 20 RBI (Gilbert 33, Macary 26, Grilz 22, Standlee 21).

Watt calls team speed a definite strength and the Post 64 offense functions at its best when its speed guys reach base and have opportunities to apply pressure on the opposing defense.

Post 64 runners Nate Grimaldi (19 stolen bases-22 attempts), Gilbert (17-23), Joe Wimmer (16-16), Bryce Burdette (13-16) and Cedeno (12-16) have combined for 77 of the team’s 120 stolen bases in 145 overall attempts. Grimaldi logged seven in the five games of the season-opening Wood Bat Tournament and four in the final game of the Red Raven Classic.

Depth — especially pitching depth — comes in handy during the postseason.

“We are very deep,” Watt said of his pitching staff. “Out of our 15 players, 11 have pitched this summer.”

Nine pitchers with at least two decisions and eight with over 20 innings pitched certainly bears this depth of pitching out.

“We probably didn’t have any complete games this summer,” Watt said.

Watt called Blake Vail his most consistent pitcher, one who grew into a relief pitching role or THE SHUTDOWN GUY. Vail leads Post 64 with a 7-2 overall record and 1.65 ERA, adding one save to his team-highs in wins and ERA.

Other pitchers of note: Grilz (4-0, 4.38 ERA, 2 saves), Cedeno (2-1, 3.72), Nick George (1-1, 6.81), Gilbert (1-3, 3.50), Macary (2-0, 4.90), V.J. Piccini (3-1, 2.62), Standlee (3-2, 3.82) and Wimmer (4-1, 4.18, 1 save).

Post 64 roster: Nick George (Girard), Nate Grimaldi (Colgan), Bryan Wade (Frontenac), Nate George (Girard), Dylan Gromer (Pittsburg), Bryce Burdette (Frontenac), Joe Wimmer (Pittsburg), Blake Vail (Frontenac), Matt Standlee (Frontenac), V.J. Piccini (Colgan), Sam Gilbert (Colgan), Brett Macary (Frontenac), Cody Grilz (Girard), Christian Cedeno (Colgan), Nick Vacca (Pittsburg).

Lawrence roster: Tommy Oswald (Free State), Matt Wagner (St. James Academy), Otto Kaifes (St. James), Aaron Waldeck (St. James), Troy Willoughby (Lawrence), Cameron Solko (Lawrence), C.J. Roush (Lawrence), Francisco Corbin (Barton County CC), J.D. Prochaska (Free State), Trevor Champagne (Lawrence), John Fellers (Free State), Aaron Gile (Barton County), Landon Hay (Lawrence), Trent Johnson (Free State), Devin Garcia (Lawrence), Matt Sutliffe (Lawrence), Montana Samuels (Free State).

Pittsburg Post 64
2012 season (27-11)
vs. Nevada, 10-7 W
vs. KC Ward, 5-4 W
vs. Springfield Kickapoo, 6-1 W
vs. Neosho, 5-0 W
at Carthage, 7-5 W
at Carthage, 12-1 W
vs. Butler County Cubs, 6-5 W
vs. Tulsa Tide, 6-4 L
vs. Neosho, 9-0 W
vs. Mount Vernon 39ers, 8-0 W
vs. Nebraska Sluggers (PSU), 8-4 L
vs. Nebraska Sluggers (PSU), 6-5 W
vs. Tulsa Oilers, 8-1 L
vs. Lawrence Free State, 9-2 W
vs. Carl Junction (Carthage), 4-0 L
vs. Joplin (Carthage), 5-0 L
vs. Monett (Carthage), 13-4 W
vs. McDonald County (Carthage), 8-0 W
vs. Oklahoma Outlaws (Midwest City), 23-1 L
vs. Norman (Midwest City), 16-11 W
vs. Team Realtree (Midwest City), 7-3 L
vs. Oklahoma City Bulls (Midwest City), 8-7 W
vs. Oklahoma City Panthers (Midwest City), 3-2 W
vs. Woodward (Midwest City), 14-2 L
vs. Wichita A's (Lawrence), 11-1 W
vs. Blue Valley Northwest (Lawrence), 14-6 W
vs. Lawrence Black (Lawrence), 9-6 W
vs. Lawrence Red (Lawrence), 13-0 W
vs. Springfield Kickapoo (Lawrence), 10-0 W
vs. Builders Champion (Lawrence), 9-7 L
vs. Tulsa Tide, 9-5 W
vs. Lee's Summit Lakers, 9-0 W
vs. KC Express, 9-1 L
vs. Cass County Cats, 6-1 W
vs. Wichita Rangers (Coffeyville), 7-5 W
vs. KC Regal Athletics (Coffeyville), 3-2 W
vs. Wichita Sluggers (Coffeyville), 2-1 L
vs. Tulsa Oilers (Coffeyville), 10-7 W
NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, all games have been played at JayCee Ballpark.
Team Leaders
Batting average: Sam Gilbert, .430
On-base percentage: Gilbert, .517
Runs batted in: Gilbert, 33
Stolen bases: Nate Grimaldi, 19
Wins-losses: Blake Vail, 7-2
Earned run average: Vail, 1.65