Fresh off of winning their fifth straight American Legion Kentucky State Tournament, the Owensboro Post 9 Bombers recently in Asheboro, North Carolina for the American Legion Regional Tournament. Placed in the Southeast Region, the Bombers will play an undefeated Jacksonville, Florida team in the opening round set for this afternoon at 11:30 pm. It is expected to rain all day, and the game could be delayed.
“We have played Florida in the past and they have always been very talented from top to bottom,” Owensboro Bombers head coach Matt Freeman said. “We don’t see that anything is going to change very much.”
For the Bombers, Reed Sherrard will start on the mound and is expected to pitch to contact, throw strikes, and record outs. The Bombers will be without Cayden Ray on the mound, but Carter Kimmel, Levi Rogers, Luke Quinn, and Sherrard will be leaned on to help stymie opposing offensives.
Offensively, Parker Heistand has been on a tear batting near the top of the lineup and is expected to help the offense get rolling early.
“He has led us in hitting, average, and OPS and he has been a catalyst by getting on base and moving runners around,” Freeman said.
Alongside Heistand, Easton Blandford, who is in his fourth season as a Bomber, has stepped up all season long as a leader both in the dugout and at the plate.
“He has been a constant presence in the middle of our lineup this season,” Freeman said.
To achieve the teams goal of winning the Regional, Freeman wants to see his team limit defensive mistakes and take an early lead.
“I believe that is something our team has done well over the past eight weeks. Our offense has been able to score runs over the first few runs, which gives our pitching staff extra confidence and allows them to settle in and attack the strike zone knowing they have support behind them.”
