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Business News
PITTSBURG —
With 30 games behind Pittsburg Post 64, zone and state tournament play loom on the horizon.
In fact, JayCee Ballpark will be the host park this year for a zone featuring Pittsburg, Lawrence and possibly Tonganoxie. Post 64 head coach Mike Watt said zone starts on July 25, but he’s not sure exactly what the format will be. Watt added that the top two teams from zone qualify for state.
“Any time we can stay at home and play on our home field, that’s definitely an advantage for us,” Watt said.
Speaking of its home field, Post 64 last played in the friendly confines of JayCee Ballpark on Saturday, June 16, defeating Lawrence Free State 9-2.
Since then, Post 64 has played in tournaments in Carthage, Midwest City (Okla.) and Lawrence. Post 64 went 2-2 in Carthage, 3-3 in Midwest City and 5-1 in Lawrence to finish with a 21-9 mark after 30 games. That 5-1 mark in Lawrence was good enough for a second-place finish and each of those three losses in Midwest City came against teams which finished in the top four of a high-quality tournament.
Watt said the Midwest City experience proved as beneficial for Post 64 as he planned when he placed the South Plains Classic on the schedule — for team bonding and for playing top-notch competition.
“We knew it was going to be really challenging before we got down there,” Watt said. “I felt very good that we came out of there with three wins and three losses.
“Any time you stay all night, you get to know each other a lot better. I thought we got a little closer after those four days.”
Watt said that he thought Post 64 played well, except for a 23-1 loss to the Oklahoma Outlaws in the first game of the tournament. The Outlaws feature catcher Taylor Hawkins, who recently signed with the Tampa Bay Rays and was rated one of the top 10 high school players in the nation last year. Hawkins slugged 28 home runs during his senior year at Carl Albert High School and against Post 64, he went for two homers and seven RBI.
Post 64 notched wins over Norman (16-11), the Oklahoma City Bulls (8-7) and the Oklahoma City Panthers (3-2), not bad for a team from a county with far less population to draw from than its competition.
Watt commented on the bottom line of playing in Midwest City.
“The experience we had in Oklahoma prepared us for not only the Lawrence tournament but the zone and state tournaments,” Watt said.
With 30 games behind Pittsburg Post 64, zone and state tournament play loom on the horizon.
In fact, JayCee Ballpark will be the host park this year for a zone featuring Pittsburg, Lawrence and possibly Tonganoxie. Post 64 head coach Mike Watt said zone starts on July 25, but he’s not sure exactly what the format will be. Watt added that the top two teams from zone qualify for state.
“Any time we can stay at home and play on our home field, that’s definitely an advantage for us,” Watt said.
Speaking of its home field, Post 64 last played in the friendly confines of JayCee Ballpark on Saturday, June 16, defeating Lawrence Free State 9-2.
Since then, Post 64 has played in tournaments in Carthage, Midwest City (Okla.) and Lawrence. Post 64 went 2-2 in Carthage, 3-3 in Midwest City and 5-1 in Lawrence to finish with a 21-9 mark after 30 games. That 5-1 mark in Lawrence was good enough for a second-place finish and each of those three losses in Midwest City came against teams which finished in the top four of a high-quality tournament.
Watt said the Midwest City experience proved as beneficial for Post 64 as he planned when he placed the South Plains Classic on the schedule — for team bonding and for playing top-notch competition.
“We knew it was going to be really challenging before we got down there,” Watt said. “I felt very good that we came out of there with three wins and three losses.
“Any time you stay all night, you get to know each other a lot better. I thought we got a little closer after those four days.”
Watt said that he thought Post 64 played well, except for a 23-1 loss to the Oklahoma Outlaws in the first game of the tournament. The Outlaws feature catcher Taylor Hawkins, who recently signed with the Tampa Bay Rays and was rated one of the top 10 high school players in the nation last year. Hawkins slugged 28 home runs during his senior year at Carl Albert High School and against Post 64, he went for two homers and seven RBI.
Post 64 notched wins over Norman (16-11), the Oklahoma City Bulls (8-7) and the Oklahoma City Panthers (3-2), not bad for a team from a county with far less population to draw from than its competition.
Watt commented on the bottom line of playing in Midwest City.
“The experience we had in Oklahoma prepared us for not only the Lawrence tournament but the zone and state tournaments,” Watt said.
At the Lawrence tournament, Post 64 rolled to five consecutive wins — over the Wichita A’s 11-1, Blue Valley Northwest 14-6, Lawrence Black 9-6, Lawrence Red 13-0 and Springfield Kickapoo 10-0 — before a 9-7 loss on Sunday to Builders Champion, a traveling team from the Kansas City area.
Watt said that Post 64 had its chances to beat Builders Champion but too many walks led to too many opportunities for a good opponent. Post 64 outhit Builders Champion 11-8.
Post 64 coming out and playing flat concerned the coaches (Watt, Pat Cedeno, Gary Grimaldi and Nick Whetzell) earlier in the season and was the focus of several post-game discussions — for example, a 8-1 loss at home to the Tulsa Oilers on June 14 brought on a lengthy talk about playing with more energy and passion.
“We went through a period where we lacked energy and were going through the motions,” Watt said. “We started to come around in Oklahoma City with better energy and our energy got even better in Lawrence. We won five out of six games and you don’t do that without energy.”
Post 64 returns home this weekend (Friday-Sunday) for the third showcase tournament put on this summer by the Pittsburg Legion and Fort Scott Community College at JayCee Ballpark. Post 64 will play two games Friday (1:30, 6 p.m.), one Saturday (3:45 p.m.) and one Sunday (8:15 p.m); Watt said teams from Tulsa, Kansas City and Lawrence will be in the field.
