Warrenton Post 122 Coach Kevin Shough was forced to make a difficult decision near the conclusion of the 2013 season.He chose to withdraw the AAA team from the Ninth District Tournament in an effort to avoid missing out on an entire season.With the unsettling notion that Post 122 likely wouldn’t be able to field enough players for a district game and have to subsequently forfeit, Shough made a choice to secure the future of the program. A forfeit would have meant a full-season suspension from Legion baseball for all Warrenton teams.“We didn’t want to take any chances for one game, and we’d really like to see this program get built back up again, so I decided it was in the best interest to go ahead and end the season,” said Shough.Post 122 finished the season winless, never managing to get all areas of its game on the same page at once.Warrenton was extremely young across the board, having to field several freshman level players, who were forced to grow up quickly.“Hopefully the players we had this year realize what they did against the tougher competition will pay off in the long run,” said Shough.Among the first-year players were starting catcher Jacob Abel and outfielder Hunter Russell, who carried the second-highest batting average on the team at .314.Warrenton also saw productivity from Hunter Capstick, who became a factor late in the season.The younger cast showed drastic improvement at the plate, gradually becoming more comfortable against older pitchers.“The first game was a no-hitter,” recalled Shough. “A lot of the young guys went up there and were nervous. It was a brand new experience, and we really had a rough outing.”Post 122 also had several graduates on this year’s team, including Kenny Dildine, who batted a team best .354.Jakob Junker hit .272, while Trevor Bradshaw batted .250.“I’ve always said hitting is contagious, and if you’re not hitting, that can be contagious as well,” acknowledged Shough.But hitting wasn’t always Warrenton’s crutch, as its woes often varied.“Defensively, I thought we should have done better,” said Shough. “Our defense definitely should have been better.”He was, however, pleased with the overall pitching effort by a cast of contributors.Among those seeing significant time on the mound were Dildine, Junker, Bradshaw, Garrett Capstick and Paul Inman.“I felt like all of our pitchers did a good job,” said Shough. “At times, the defense didn’t do their job behind them.”Several players could maintain age eligibility for the AAA team, but Shough anticipates Warrenton will field two younger teams next year instead.At this point we just have to believe that’s a step foward, and it’s just going to get better,” said Shough.The focus is on rebuilding interest in the program, which has faded significantly over the past five years.

Kenny Dildine led the Post 122 Senior Legion team in batting percentage this season.

Derrick Forsythe Photo.