The American Legion baseball season recently moved into the second half of its schedule so there was no better time for the Mechanicsville Post 175 team to start hitting its stride. A 10-0 win at Ashland Post 206 gave evidence that the group of talented individual players are developing into a solid team.

  The team composed of a majority of Lee-Davis High School players along with three each from Atlee and Hanover, got off to an up and down beginning when the season kicked off. As with most American Legion teams, the roster altered erratically during the initial games of the season as the former high school seniors took a break from the team for a trip to Beach Week then later returned.

  The team also took a hit, literally, when catcher Matt Musser suffered a broken jaw after being struck in the face from an inside pitch. But Musser only missed a single week of action, which happened to be Beach Week.

  “We actually won two while the kids were at Beach Week,” said team manager Cookie Edwards. “Then when they came back we had a hard time getting back together.”

  But during Tuesday night’s game at Patrick Henry High School, Mechanicsville showed a potent offensive attack and crisp defense. “I told them tonight that, that was about as perfect of a game as we’ve played all year,” Edwards said. “Of course our pitchers weren’t walking anybody and that helps a lot.”

  On offense Post 175 sent an average of six player to the plate in every inning of the game. Though they failed to score in the first, both Aaron Adkins and Matt Musser reached base.

  On defense, the team got a huge lift from Taylor Marshall on the mound. In four of the six innings played, Marshall sent the Post 206 order back to the bench, one-two-three. “Taylor pitched a great game, obviously,” Edwards said of Marshall’s complete game two-hit performance from the mound.

  In the second inning the Post 175 offense started clicking when Sam Hartness led off with a single that bounced over the head of the third baseman.

  Hartness then scored when Dawson Langhorne laid down a bunt and the throw to first went wide. The lead later moved to 3-0 when a Musser single to short drove in two.

  Chase Worthington started off things in the top of the third with a booming homer over the left field fence and a double by Ryan Kontra drove in Jordon Walton to make the lead 5-0. Kontra then scored on a wild pitch.

  Josh Perks, Adkins and Musser added runs in the top of the fourth to push the lead to 9-0. Then when Walton blasted a homer over dead center in the top of the sixth the lead bloomed to 10-0.

  Edwards hopes that the team’s performance on Tuesday carries over to the remainder of the season. And though their record may not reflect their talent, the team has been in virtually every game they’ve played. “When we play good D and throw strikes we’re in the game,” he said. “We’re never out of the game when we throw strikes. Our two worst losses are when our pitchers blew up. They couldn’t find the plate.”

  But with Marshall’s performance on Tuesday, Edwards now feels he has a good stable of studs he can use on the mound, led by Adkins, Brandon Powers and Nick Frame. Musser has proven to also be a steady pitcher but he is too valuable behind the plate which is the teams one thin spot. Edwards said he has used Powers behind the plate but Powers is not a catcher.