On Thursday night, former Hanover Hawk Travis Tyree stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with his Post 175 team holding a 10-3 lead over visiting Glen Allen Post 244. Subbing for Hank Parsley, it was Tyree’s only at-bat of the game but that was all it took to make his night. With one out and bases loaded, Tyree blasted a shot to the centerfield fence for a three-RBI double that ended the game by the 10-run rule and kept Mechanicsville atop the American Legion standings with a 14-2 record as of Sunday evening.

  “No I didn’t really work up a sweat today,” Tyree said. “It was really fun. I was kind of glad I got to get in and get on that ball.”

  While getting the win may have never been in question versus Post 244, Coach Eddie Gates felt getting the early end to the contest was very important. “We’re at the position now where we’re playing so many games in very short days that the shorter games, it’s going to benefit us,” he said. “I don’t have to use the pitching.

  With a rescheduled rain-out on Monday throw in, Post 175 is set to play seven games in six days.

  “The number of games we’ll play in the next seven/eight days is a bunch, then playoffs start,” Gates said. “It could be a tight situation. The shorter game, it sure benefits us.”

  Tyree’s game-ending hit was only further evidence as to the depth of talent on the Mechanicsville team. Besides Tyree, Patrick Holler and Rich Hurson picked up hits on their only trips to the plate in the final innings.

  “Players came in, substitutes, hit the ball,” Gates said. “That’s what you’ve got to have.”

  With the team still having not reached its peak, infielder Conner Hall feels team numbers compensate for lapses. “We’ve always got room to improve, but we’ve just got so much depth, when somebody’s having a bad game, one-through-the-whole-team we can hit the ball.”

  And due to such depth Post 175 finds themselves in the unusual position as ‘the’ team to beat, leading the American Legion as the regular season winds to a close. 

  “It actually feels pretty good,” Tyree said. “Everybody wants to beat us. We’re the team to beat and we’ve got the talent to go all the way I believe.”

  Hall agrees. “It’s just awesome to be #1 and know that everybody is coming after you,” he said. “It makes you step your game up so you don’t disappoint your legion or your fans or everybody that comes to the game.”

  Gates feels his players feed off of the pressure. “It’s fun to get in this situation where everybody’s trying to beat you,” Gates said. “You can see the intensity level on some of the teams picks up when they play a first place team.”

  Against Post 244, Mechanicsville pitcher Michael Thomas started slow but got himself out of early jam. Glen Allen’s Chance Yahley led off with a single to short and moved into scoring position on a bunt from Nick Toombs. Post 175 appeared to be in position to get a double play when Toomb’s bunt went to Thomas but the field umpire blocked his throw to second leaving only the option of a force at first.

  But Yahley pushed his luck in an attempt to reach third on a single to short from Andrew Props and was tagged out by Jordan Boze allowing Post 175 to escape unscathed on a strikeout of Korey Smith.

  Any slips Thomas may have shown on the mound where quickly erased by his presence at the plate as the lead off batter. On the night Thomas was 3-for-3 with a double, triple and two RBI. ‘I’m swinging pretty good right now,” he said. “I had a bad game the other day and came back, got a couple hits here to help out.”

  Post 175 got on the board in the bottom of the first when Thomas tripled to right then scored on Will Connerley’s ground-out to short.

  Mechanicsville widened their lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the second. Ryan Bettinger led off with a single to right and Hall followed with a double to right center. A single up the middle from Zach Broaddus drove them both home. Thomas drove Broaddus home on a shot to right center.

  Glen Allen answered in the top of the third. Pierce Colley reached on a lead-off walk and advanced on a single to short left from Yahley. A sacrifice bunt from Elliott Cliborn advanced both runners and they scored on a single from Smith to pull within 5-2.

  Post 175 tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Broaddus was dinged by a pitch to start things off, advanced on a single from Parsley and came home on a sacrifice from Jack Edwards. A single from Thomas drove in Parsley and a two-run homer from Connerley gave Mechanicsville a 9-2 edge.

  The lead moved to 10-2 on a fifth inning RBI double from Parsley which drove home Broaddus.

  Post 244 added one more in the top of the sixth on a RBI double from Jackson Wright to set up Tyree’s game ender in the seventh.

  Last Tuesday, Mechanicsville suffered only its second loss of the season (both on the road), falling 6-5 at Post 361. But following the win over Glen Allen, Post 175 swept 244-B in a double-header on Saturday then beat host 284-P on Sunday. Mechanicsville’s final four games come on their home field at Atlee.

  “We haven’t lost on this field yet so I think we’re pretty comfortable here,” Tyree said.

  But biggest game down the stretch comes on Tuesday night at Atlee against Post 125, a team that handed them their first loss of the season and sits 1/2 game back in the standings.

  Post 175 then closes out the regular season with home matchups against Powhatan Post 201 on Wednesday and Midlothian Post 186 on Thursday, all at 7 p.m..

  While finishing the regular season on top is a milestone for Mechanicsville, the players know they need to accomplish more. “The regular season doesn’t matter except for your seed,” Hall said. “You still have to come to play in the tournament.”
 
P244…................. 002 001 0 —  3   7 2
P175…................ 140 410 3 — 13 13 0
McGuire, Kominars (3), Props (6) and Colley; Thomas, Boze (6) and Parsley, Tyree (6). W — Thomas. L — McGuire.
Highlights: Chance Pauley (244) 2 for 4; Korey Smith (244) 1 for 3, 2 RBIs; Jackson Wright (244) 2B, RBI; Michael Thomas (175) 3 for 3, 2B, 3B, 2 RBIs; Will Connerley (175) HR, 2 RBIs; Zach Broaddus (175) 2 for 3; Hank Parsley (175) 3 for 3, 2B, RBI; Travis Tyree (175) 2B, 3 RBIs
Records: Post 244 Glen Allen 4-9; Post 175 Mechanicsville 11-2