Above is a Christiansburg Post 59 Junior Legion team photo. Pictured are: (from left) front row, Landon Shaver, Tyler VandeVord, Connor Brizendine, Parker Hale, Sam Helton and Ben Miller; back row, Coach Richard Shaver, Coach Todd VandeVord, Reagan Harris, Noah Jones, MJ Hunter, Bryce Long, Ethan Young, Kaleb Thomas, Nathan Mathena, Coach Ken Helton and Coach Mike Harris. Not pictured are Ty Dunkleman and Kyle Keister.
For some area baseball players, each June and July becomes a fast and furious season in the summer American Legion league program. This year was no different for the local Christiansburg Post 59 Junior American Legion team.
Although the 2018 team returned several players from the previous year, they remained a very young 15-year-old group in a league where better teams annually showcase 17-year-old rising seniors with collegiate commitments. Many of the returning players remembered the previous season where they finished the regular season in next to last place with six wins.
After completing tryouts on June 10, the team quickly jumped into league play facing the perennial 800-pound gorillas Halifax County Post 8 and Lynchburg Post 16 on June 16 and 17. In a surprising start to the 2018 campaign, Post 59 won both opening contests by scores of 7-5 and 8-3 respectively.
According to head coach Mike Harris, the opening weekend shocked some league officials with Post 59 rattling off two successive upsets. As league and district opponents soon began to realize, the opening weekend wasn’t a fluke but a notice that a new contender had emerged in District F.
Following the opening weekend and with the previous season’s struggles starting to fade with new found confidence, Post 59 began rattling off win after win.
Wins began to pile up in Alleghany County, Martinsville, Salem, Forest, South Boston as well as the many home games played at old Blacksburg High School.
After five weeks and over 1,600 miles of travel, the win streak and pursuit of an undefeated season finally came to an end in a loss to Lynchburg at Heritage High School on the last day of regular season play. Regardless of the single blemish, Post 59 finished 1st place in District F as the number 1 seed in the upcoming tournament.
According to Harris, many league officials offered congratulations as did several coaches from the league.
After the conclusion of the regular season, Post 59 began tournament play immediately jumping on Martinsville in 13-3 mercy decision. As the dust settled on the last day of the district tournament, Post 59 was eliminated from the tournament by Lynchburg in a close 2-1 decision.
Harris summed up the season as a remarkable improvement by a still very young team. He further noted, our first place finish in the regular season as well as our third place tournament performance speaks volumes about the baseball players we have here in the New River Valley. Post 59 finished 2-1 against the eventual tournament winner Halifax whose coach offered strong praise stating they enjoyed playing Post 59 as they play hard and respected the game.
The Post 59 team was started by the late Tony Huddleston in 2011, whose work has been continued by Mike Tuck and others since Tony’s untimely death two years ago.
Many of Tony’s friends continue to be involved in the program and think of it as a fitting tribute to Tony who heavily contributed to baseball in Christiansburg as well as the New River Valley. In close, Coach Harris noted that we had our best seasons ever in both the Junior and Senior leagues this year and that he could imagine seeing that big grin of acknowledgment Tony often gave players for a good performance, “Tony would be proud.”
In many instances, local players move on to Senior Legion play at 16 years-old which includes college players up to 19 years old. Considering the youth of the Post 59 team, many wonder if a state title would be a possibility if the core of the team returns to the Junior team in 2019.
