On behalf of Commander Tom Queck, welcome to American Legion Baseball Department of Virginia

Congratulations to Frank “Trey” Lane Karnes III, Post 175 Mechanicsville, for being named as Department of Virginia American Legion Baseball Scholarship Award winner.   The baseball scholarships are sponsored by Diamond Sports, a leading manufacturer in baseball merchandise and the official baseball used during Legion national tournaments.  Trey attended Lee Davis High School and was co-President of the school spirit club “Pride Club” and a mentor to underclassman as a member of the “Positive Dawgs.  Trey volunteers in his local community as an athletic trainer, coaching and umpiring in youth baseball, fundraising for local veteran service dogs and National Fallen Firefighters Program and supports elderly citizens of Hanover County.  Trey is a four-year baseball player and will continue his baseball career at Hampden-Sydney College while majoring in Business Management. 

Vienna Post 180 had been here before. Just last summer, Post 180 controlled the winner’s bracket in the District 17 playoffs versus West Springfield Post 176 when Post 176 bounced back to beat Post 180 twice in consecutive games to take the District crown and head to the American Legion Virginia State Tournament.  Now in 2018, Post 180 and Post 176 we again at a showdown in the winner’s bracket semi-final game and Post 176 had just taken a 14-2 lead in the 4th inning.  However, three innings later, Post 180 has scored 17 unanswered runs during a comeback for the ages, capped off by Avery Neaves’ towering grand slam into the night at Waters Field in Vienna.  Post 180 went on to finish off West Springfield for good in the championship game two nights later, take back the District 17 crown and surge into the State Tournament. 

In the States, Post 180 went 3-0 in a rain shortened tournament defeating a tough Winchester squad along the way 6-5 in a game split up over three days due to rain suspensions.  Vienna’s Justin Taylor, a Cornell commit, was named Tournament MVP as he hit .583 and drove in 5 runs in the championship game as Post 180 topped Adams Post 86 for its first Virginia State crown since 1990. 

In the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament in Purcellville, Post 180 showed their competitiveness winning their first game vs the champion from Pennsylvania but dropping their next two games by one run walk-offs in the bottom of the 7th inning and exited the tournament.  The season for Vienna was a memorable one in which the entire Post 180 Legion membership rallied around.  Having won the District and State Tournament is an experience the players will never forget.

The Rangers put everything together to win four-straight, including a 12-10 comeback win in the semifinals against Souderton (PA) Post 234. But while seeking its second regional championship and World Series berth in three years, Leesburg (15-9-1) finally ran out of gas against the Delaware state champions.  Other scores for Post 34 Leesburg:  Severna Park (MD) 5, Leesburg 4; Leesburg 5, Vienna 4; and Leesburg 7, Rockland (N.Y.) 0.

The Rangers have well represented the Department of Virginia baseball in the last four Mid-Atlantic Regional tournaments with 13 wins, a Regional Championship in 2016, and the Tournament Runner-Up in 2018.  Congratulations to an all Post 34 alumi coaching staff led by Daniel Gershen, Brenton Peters, Kris Pratt, Brandall Peters, Brandon Keiper, T.J. Holdrege, and Greyson Rauch. 

Particularly proud of Post 34 member, Marine infantry veteran, and Post 34 Rangers bench coach, Forrest Walker for mentoring the coaches and players leadership from the front lines.  Forrest is in his second year of a 4-year Posse Foundation Veterans Program scholarship to attend Wesleyan University.