Area trio ready to compete at Legion state tournament

This year’s Mississippi American Senior Legion State Tournament will have heavy area representation.

Three of the four teams involved – the Tupelo 49ers, Baldwyn Blue Aces and Pontotoc Red Sox – hail from the northeast and have played one another nine times in the regular season. The Brandon Black Sox round out the four-team field.

Pontotoc beat Tupelo in the finals last season, but the Red Sox will need to defend their title without some key pitchers: Connor Yarbrough, Miller Finn and Caden Farmer.

“Those were kind of my top three pitching staff guys that I had,” Red Sox coach Scott Cummings said. “So it's kind of changed the dynamic.”

Many of the Niners on last year’s team still have the taste of that loss stuck in their mouths. The team has been on a mission ever since and, in the eyes of coach Russell Bunch, is playing its best ball at the right time.

Pitchers like Aidan Strong and Brody Wilson have Bunch confident.

“We're on a mission this year to right that wrong, in our eyes,” Bunch said. “But we're going to have to play some really good ball, because I figured Pontotoc, Baldwyn and Brandon will all throw a pretty good punch this weekend.”

Shawn Hairald has been coaching the Blue Aces for over 30 years, and the chemistry of this team rivals any of his previous groups. Hitters like Jase Pee and pitchers like John Greyson Pharr lead the charge.

“If we can pitch and play defense the way we're capable of, we're perfectly fine,” Hairald said. “If we're deficient in an area, it's going to be stringing hits together, because we've got a few that do that well, and then if we could get the others to jump on board, but that's where we're deficient as a team.”

All games will be played at The Plex on the campus of Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville. Pontotoc faces Baldwyn to start the tournament on Friday at 4:30 p.m., with Tupelo facing Brandon at 7 p.m.

A champion of the double-elimination tournament will be crowned on Sunday. That champion will advance to the Mid-South Regional tournament in Washington, Missouri, bringing it one step closer to the American Legion World Series in Shelby, North Carolina.