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Area 5 championship game delayed

ELKINS — After inclement weather caused officials to delay the start of the elimination game between Buckhannon Post 7 and Braxton County Post 33 Friday evening, Elkins Post 29 will have to wait until today to get their shot at the American Legion Area 5 Championship.

Elkins is set to host Buckhannon today at noon for the conference title at Robin Harvey Memorial Field.

“This is it,” Post 29 manager Chris George said. “Our main goal is to get to the state tournament and to do that we’ve got to win the Area 5 Championship. That’s our main goal. We really talked about this going into the last week of the regular season. We’re 7-1 since we really started pushing that. The kids are starting to play their best ball at the end of the season and we hope that continues.”

Buckhannon defeated Braxton County, 13-2, on Friday evening after the game was moved from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

In the game, Trahern White crushed a 3-run homer in the seventh inning to give Buckhannon the 10-run mercy rule victory.

Anthony Herron earned the victory on the mound, while Cody Dobbins shouldered the loss for Braxton County. Jacob Oats and Anthony Jarvis both hit solo home runs for Braxton in the game.

Elkins defeated Jane Lew Post 166 on Wednesday, 18-1, in the first round of the tournament. Elkins then went on to down Braxton County on Thursday, 11-1, and advance to the championship round of the double elimination tournament. The victory was also a milestone for George, who celebrated his 400th career win at the helm.

Braxton County defeated Buckhannon, 14-9, in the first round of tournament play on Wednesday. Buckhannon then defeated Jane Lew Post 166, 11-5, Thursday to keep their hopes alive.

During the regular season, the Elkins Post 29 players achieved an overall team batting average of .365. Leading the way, Sam Ross batted .403 with 48 hits in 119 at-bats with 44 runs, 28 RBIs, 10 doubles, 4 triples, and 1 home run. Other tops players include: Brett Smith, .411 with 39 hits, 27 runs and 18 RBIs; Kyle Riggleman, .381 with 37 hits, 18 runs and 36 RBIs; Ben McDonald, .380 with 38 hits, 32 runs and 18 RBIs; Jared Kerns, .365 with 42 hits, 30 runs and 15 RBIs; Cole Harlan, .360 with 41 hits, 31 runs and 23 RBIs; and Luke Petrice, .339 with 38 hits, 37 runs and 35 RBIs.

On the mound during the regular season, Ben Huffman went 5-0 with a 6.68 ERA. He struck out 30 batters and walked 19, while giving up 43 hits and 35 runs in 31 innings pitched. Read Schumacher went 5-1 with a 4.01 ERA. He had 32 strikeouts and 21 walks in 42.1 innings pitched. Matthew Gainer went 4-1 in 45.1 innings of work. With a 1.92 ERA, he’s struck out 46 batters and walked 10, while giving up 10 earned runs. Adam Riggleman’s regular season record was 2-5 in 47.2 innings pitched, however his ERA is 3.08 and he’s whiffed 54 batters while issuing 27 walks.

Schumacher and Adam Riggleman earned postseason victories on the mound in this week’s tournament.

George took over as manager for Post 29 in 2004 and his overall record is 400 wins, 229 losses and 2 ties. Along with winning the Area 5 championship every year since 2007, George and his staff also guided Post 29 to a state title in 2012 after being runner-up in both 2010 and 2011.

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