After 7 years, I have played my last game as a Post 757 Colt....

For the past 7 years this team has been where I've spent my summer. A lot of early mornings and late nights, a lot of games in the hot summer sun.

While playing for 757 I was able to play against teams from 2 different countries and teams from 12+ states. I was fortunate to play games in a few different states as well (Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina). Not many ball players get to go out of state year after year and play against top level competition, but I was able to do that while playing for Post 757.

The best part of the past 7 years wasn't the baseball, don't get me wrong the baseball was awesome! But for me the best part was the people I've met during this time. I've met so many great people from teammates to other kids' parents, as well as the coaches. This really was my second family... I wanna say thank all of the teammates I've had through the years and to their parents as well. I also wanna say thank you to all of the coaches I've had while at 757 (Kim Ward, Steve Chester, Brett Mavis and Tom Barr). They helped make me a better ball player.

Most of all I wanna say thank you to my mom and dad. Without there support and them sacrificing so much I would never have been able to experience this, and for that I am grateful. It has been one heck of a ride, and I wouldn't change it for anything!

To the entire American Legion Post 757 organization, Thank You.

 Derrick Webb, Reporter4:50 p.m. EDT July 23, 2016

CHILLICOTHE - The young grasshoppers have quickly become the teachers in Post 757's baseball program.

The quartet of Seth McGuire, Derek Milliken, Ryan Milliken and Drew Barr once suited up in Colts uniforms. Now, they're still suiting up in the blue and gold, but in a different way.

Each of the four plays a different role inside the local American Legion baseball organization. And, luckily for the current and future players, they seem to know exactly what they're doing.

"We knew that 757 meant so much to us and that’s one of the things we really wanted to do; give back," Derek Milliken said. "Every year, parents come to us and tell us we're doing a great job. That means a lot. At the end of the day, that’s what matters to us. We're building character and teaching our guys how to play the game the right way."

Derek has teamed up with McGuire to head up the Colts' junior team, ages 16 and under. Over the past two years, they've had their struggles, but they hope a turning point is near.

"I just love being around our team in general," McGuire said. "It’s not always just about baseball with us. We teach them how to play, but you've got to have life lessons around the baseball. That’s something that (longtime Chillicothe coach) Marty (Dunn) preached to us. Baseball is a lot like the game of life. There's not another sport where three out of 10 times, you're successful and you're a good player. Play hard and do things the right way. If they do that, we can't complain about much.”

Derek Milliken and McGuire attend Ohio State and have roomed together over the past two years. Derek is a sports industry major, while McGuire is pursuing a degree in integrated social studies. Derek played in the 757 organization from 2010-13 after graduating from Chillicothe High School. McGuire paid his service from 2009-12 after graduating from CHS.

"Seth and I get along great," Derek said. "We've been friends since second grade and have been playing baseball together ever since. Off the field, I’ve lived with him over the past couple of years at Ohio State. We’re buddies and we love each other. It’s always a good time. We’re always able to relate.”

While the Colts' junior team is reaping the benefits of the pair's decision to coach, the Colts' senior team — ages 19 and under — has also gained a pair of valuable baseball presences.

Derek's younger brother Ryan, 20, and 757 head coach Tom Barr's son Drew, 19, recently joined the coaching staff as well. Ryan is acting as an assistant coach, while Drew takes care of the game-by-game statistics.

Ryan, a 2014 graduate of CHS, is a junior at Ohio State and is majoring in sports industry while Barr, a 2015 graduate of Zane Trace High School, attends OU-C and plays baseball under former 757 coach Bret Mavis.

The things they've learned from watching Barr in the dugout have already paid dividends.

"I want to coach high school ball after I graduate college," Ryan said. "I've learned a lot from just watching Tom. Little tricks to coaching at the high school level, at least I hope so. Things that I can do at both the legion and high school level. I learned just how different the coaching side of things is from playing. You're still watching the same game, but you're watching it in a completely different sense. It’s a lot more mental now. ”

But one of the biggest lessons all three now have experience in is the art of patience; a tool that doesn't come without wisdom.

"I've learned a lot of patience dealing with my kids," McGuire said. "You kind of expect to come into a season and everything goes exactly your way and that’s not the case. You deal with adversity between injuries and kids being on vacation and then it's also getting these kids to buy into what you're saying. It's giving them that extra little push to help them get better and then waiting on the results."

As the lessons continue to be taught, the young quartet of former baseball players will continue to transform their baseball minds, all in a positive way. That, they hope, will produce a correlation with team success.

Either way, 757's future seems to be bright.

"You're thinking about how you can help all of these guys do their best to help the team win," Ryan said. "It’s learning to deal with different personalities and trying to get them to come together. As we keep learning, I believe the team and the organization can only get better. If we do our job, our players do their job. And that is a recipe for success."

dwebb@chillicothegazette.com

Twitter: @dw1509

 Derrick Webb, Reporter11:02 p.m. EDT July 20, 2016

CHILLICOTHE - A mixed bag of results led to a summer baseball season ending Wednesday evening.

After beating Hillsboro Post 129 early in the day to advance in the 2016 Region V American Legion Tournament at VA Memorial Stadium, Chillicothe Post 757 fell 17-7 to Waverly Post 142 in the nightcap, effectively ending their 2016 campaign.

"This week is always a grind," Chillicothe Post 757 coach Tom Barr said. "Win, lose or draw, you have to tip your cap to both Jacob Chester and JD Blevins. Both of those guys manned up for us and threw well on short rest. They're both competitors. That's the kind of mentality they have."

As Barr eluded to, Chester carried the Colts (15-21) to a victory against Hillsboro earlier in the day. In a 4-3 win, Chester was handed a no-decision but threw 8 1/3 innings before getting the hook. His final line included 104 pitches, seven hits allowed, a single earned run and three strikeouts.

"We probably could have done a better job as a coaching staff of moving some guys around a little more but at this point in the season, you've got to go with who you think your best is and Jacob was that," Barr said.

With the game scoreless, 757 took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Trenton Harris scored on an RBI triple off the bat of Blevins. Hillsboro answered in the fifth on an RBI groundout to make it 1-1.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Colts retook the lead thanks to RBI doubles from Anthony Sipple and Zack Stapleton. That 3-1 edge lasted until the top of the seventh when 129 cut the deficit to 3-2 on an RBI single. Hillsboro forced a 3-3 stalemate in the ninth before 757 came up with some late inning heroics.

Brian Smith drew a walk and immediately stole second base to put himself in scoring position. Stapleton laid down a bunt to move Smith to third and with Eli Kunkel standing at the plate, Smith scored on a passed ball to hand the Colts a 4-3 walk-off win.

"I thought our guys came out and fought hard to get that first win today," Barr said. "That's not an easy thing to do after playing in 90-degree heat most of the week. When (Smith) got to third, we knew we had a pretty good shot."

Blevins was credited with the win after pitching 2/3 of an inning of relief. The southpaw then started the next contest, nearly three hours later, and gave up just three earned runs to Waverly in five innings of work.

The Shockers (16-13) fell to Circleville Post 134 to begin the day by a 14-4 final. They were then pitted against 757 in the losers' bracket championship.

With Waverly leading 4-3 heading into the fifth inning, 757 strung together four runs on three hits, three walks and a passed ball to seize a 7-4 advantage. 142 answered with three runs in the sixth to force a 7-7 tie. The Shockers pounded out 10 runs in the next two innings to win by the run-rule.

"We did what we had to do to get to the championship," Waverly coach Johnathan Teeters said. "Give our team credit for bouncing back after that first game and coming out ready to play. We really started to hit the ball. Hopefully, that will carry over until tomorrow. Our guys will be ready to go."

On the day, Waverly's Logan Shoupe was 4-for-7 with an RBI and five runs scored. Jared Alley followed by finishing 3-for-7 with a double, four runs and a pair of RBIs. Logan Kottenbrook was also productive with a 3-for-8 day including two runs, two doubles and an RBI.

For 757, Sipple led the offense by going 5-for-8 with three RBIs, two doubles and two runs. Hayden Henness helped out by finishing 3-for-7 with an RBI and a run as Stapleton was 2-for-7 with an RBI, a double and a run.

As the Colts look towards 2017, Waverly will meet with Circleville 134 in the Region V district championship at 4 p.m. Thursday, back at VA Memorial Stadium.

"The guys who are wanting to come back are going to have to tryout just like everyone else," Barr said. "We're going to take the guys who are willing to come in and do what they need to do, what we expect them to do. We have guys in our program who donate hundreds of hours and they deserve the best product we can put on the field. That's the goal."

dwebb@chillicothegazette.com

Twitter: @dw1509

CHILLICOTHE - Both Chillicothe Post 757's Jacob Chester and Chillicothe Post 62's Tanner Popp dealt gems Sunday morning in the first round of the American Legion Region V Tournament at VA Memorial Stadium.

And, thanks to their offenses, both picked up wins on the mound to help their teams advance further into the winners' bracket.

Behind Chester, the Colts (13-19) topped Hillsboro 129 by a 12-1 final in seven innings as the Riverbats (12-10), behind Popp, beat Portsmouth 23 by a 7-1 count.

In the early contest, 757 put up a run in the bottom of the first inning after Chester struck out the side. That set the tone for the rest of the day's action.

"Jacob was solid all day and he worked ahead all day," 757 coach Tom Barr said. "He had a couple of games where he got roughed up pretty good, especially on our Carolina trip. But he's been a solid starter for us for three years now. He knows how to get better and he's gotten better every outing. Not many teams are going to hit the ball against him when he works like he did today. He was zoned in and that's what we expect."

Brian Smith came around to score the game's first run on a Hillsboro fielding error, making it 1-0. In the second, Trenton Harris tripled and scored on a passed ball before Smith reached third, after walking, and stole home to give the Colts a 3-0 edge.

Hillsboro (13-25) went 1-2-3 in the top of the third, making way for 757 to tack on four more, making it 7-0 thanks to a passed ball, a two-run double from Harris and an RBI triple from Hayden Henness.

In the fifth, the Colts scored two more on a two-run single from Eli Kunkel before scoring three in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk, a sacrifice fly and an RBI fielder's choice. Post 129 scored its only run — unearned — in the top of the inning.

"We had 12 hits and 12 runs today. What it really came down to was timely hitting," Barr said. "We want to go out and string some things together. That's what we were able to do. It's a game changer and we saw that today."

Chester threw all seven frames, allowing three hits and striking out nine in 93 pitches. Harris led the Colts' offense, finishing 3-for-4 with a double, triple, three runs and two RBIs. Smith followed by going 1-for-2 with three runs and an RBI while Kunkel finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in.

After 757 exited its dugout, the Riverbats took to theirs and quickly found out Popp was taking no prisoners.

The right-hander out of Southeastern High School continued to mow down Portsmouth's lineup, allowing his team to figure out how to put runs on the board. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, 62's offense finally broke through.

Gage Jones started the party with a one-out double before scoring on a fielder's choice to force a tie. After right fielder Jeremy Brooks nailed a runner trying to score at home plate to end the top of the fifth, 62 took a lead and kept it.

Russell Throckmorton doubled with one out, making way for Brooks to single up the gut. With runners on the corners and one out, Jones tripled to deep center field, giving the Riverbats a 3-1 advantage. Jones then scored on an RBI single from Owen Diehl, stretching the lead to 4-1.

In the seventh, Jones drove in Popp to make it 5-1 before both Josh McCorkle and Izak Diehl crossed home plate in the eighth to produce the game's final tally.

Popp got the victory in six innings of work. He allowed five hits and did not surrender an earned run. Josh George threw three innings of relief, allowing two hits.

At the dish, Jones was 2-for-5 with a double, triple, two runs and three RBIs. Popp finished 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI while Throckmorton was 1-for-4 with a double and a run.

The Riverbats will now face Waverly 142 at 9 a.m. Monday as the Colts take on top-seeded Circleville 134 at 3 p.m. Both games will be played at VA Memorial Stadium in the championship quarterfinals portion of the winners' bracket.

dwebb@chillicothegazette.com

Twitter: @dw1509

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