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Post 84 takes momentum into 29th Annual Don Coss Tournament

Kevin Sutton
The Daily Jeffersonian

Fresh off capturing the championship of the Ben Tufford Memorial Tournament last weekend, host Cambridge Post 84 will look to ride that momentum into this weekend's 29th annual Don Coss Tournament that has become a Fourth of July Tradition in Cambridge.

The action on the diamond at Don Coss Stadium kicks off today with Post 84 taking on Parkersburg in the tournament opener at 3:30 p.m. St. Clairsville will then match-up with Parkersburg at 6 p.m., with the day's final action featuring St. Clairsville and Cambridge hooking up at 8:30 p.m.

Veteran Post 84 manager Ron Antill likes the way his squad is playing now, after regrouping from a 1-3 start to now stand at 13-5 on the season following last weekend's successful play at the Ben Tufford tournament.

Antill points to a solid pitching staff as a key component to the recent Cambridge success, and hopes to continue the momentum as Post 84 looks to defend last season's Don Coss Tournament championship.

"We are playing some pretty solid ball right now," Antill offered. "We are getting some solid pitching as we have four-five solid options we can use. We have as good as a one-two punch you could have on the mound in Jensen Helmuth and Austin Fox."

"They are different kind of pitchers, but both are very effective and done a great job for us," Antill added. "Then we also have Jake Valentine, Brock Valentine and Caden Burga who are solid pitchers as well."

This year's tournament field includes host Post 84, St. Clairsville, Findlay, Parkersburg and Marietta.

"This figures to once again be a very competitive tournament this year," Antill continued. "St. Clairsville has a very strong team, and Marietta has been missing some key players this year, but will be at full strength for this weekend according to their manager."

"Then Findlay always brings down a strong team and Parkersburg has a bunch of kids back this year," Antill said. "So I'm looking forward to a good weekend of solid baseball for folks to come out and enjoy."

The tournament named in honor of the late Donald "Don" Coss, who passed away on January 22, 2013, for his many valuable contributions to baseball in the Cambridge community.

"The tournament honors a great man that gave in life, and continues to give posthumously to our community," Don Coss Tournament Director John Charlton offered. "This is a great baseball tournament featuring talented teams loaded with a lot of talented ball players. The competition is intense."

Coss served as a baseball scout for the Cincinnati Reds from 1963 to 1968. Then he chose to continue to coach his American Legion baseball team. He started in youth baseball in May of 1952 and continued to be involved in the program for the rest of his lifetime. He became a charter member of the Guernsey Valley Baseball Association Inc. in 1962 and served as the first president from 1962 to 1973. He also served as the treasurer of the organization.

"I still remember sitting in Don's kitchen talking about the upcoming season 29 years ago," Antill explained. "That's back when travel baseball was starting to get popular. I told Don, we should start our own tournament. He said what would we call it? And I responded the Don Coss Tournament of course. He just smiled and said OK...I like that."

Day pass to get in is $5 for adults, $3 for students. The concession stand will be open selling your typical fare with a daily special.
There is grandstand seating inside Don Coss Stadium, but guests are also welcome to bring lawn chairs and canopies to use in the grassy area down the right field line.

Cambridge splits two on opening day of Don Coss

Mike Hughes
Correspondet

CAMBRIDGE — Cambridge Post 84 erupted for nine runs during the sixth inning in earning a mercy-rule shortened 13-3 victory against St. Clairsville Post 159.

The win, Post 84’s 14th in 20 games, salvaged a split on the opening day of the Don Coss Tournament. Earlier on Thursday, Cambridge fell to Parkersburg Post 15, 7-2.

Cambridge got the scoring started early, as a Garrett Burga double brought home Caden Burga from second for a 1-0 score after one.

Two RBI from Will Balgo and an run-producing double from Chase Goff allowed St. Clairsville to retake the lead, 3-1 in the third, before Post 84 retook the lead for good the next half inning.

Caden Burga singled to lead off the home half of the third, followed by three successive walks issued by Post 159 pitcher Drew Sefsick.
Garrett Burga, who reached on a walk, scored on a passed ball and Brock Valentine doubled home Caleb Bond in the three-run swing.
Now leading 4-3, the score remained knotted there until the sixth.

Two runs scored via bases loaded walks to start the 9-run barrage, with Valentine singling in a pair of runners for his second and third RBI of the game.

Bond singled in a run and scored on the next at-bat when Blade Barclay tripled him home. It was Barclay’s fourth hit in five at-bats against Post 159.

Colin Campbell’s line drive single into center brought home Barclay for the decided run, enacting the mercy rule.

Post 84 (14-6) scored 13 runs on 14 hits, led by Barclay with four, three from Valentine. Campbell, and both Burgas had two hits apiece.

Austin Fox and Campbell each pitched three innings, with Fox fanning three batters, Campbell four. Campbell picked up the win, allowing one hit in three innings of shutout ball.

Parkersburg 7, Cambridge 2

The two teams remained scoreless through two in the tournament’s opening game before Post 15 pushed two across in the home half of the third and three an inning later for an early 5-0 advantage.

Post 15’s run was highlighted by a two-run double from Brodie Wiggins. Wiggins was also the final of three Parkersburg pitchers to face Cambridge, holding the designated visitors to two runs on five hits. Both of those runs were unearned.

Caden Burga, Bond, Campbell, Kaden Whaley and Valentine produced one base hit apiece.

NEXT: Tournament action continues Friday, while Post 84 returns to play Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against Marietta before facing Findlay at 6 p.m.


Game 1

Parkersburg Post 15 - 7
Cambridge Post 84 - 2

Parkersburg Leaders

Brodie Wiggins - double, single, 3 RBI
Drew Woofter - two singles

Cambridge Leaders

Brock Valentine - single, RBI
Garrett Burga - single, RBI


Game 2


St. Clairsville Post 159 - 13
Parkersburg Post 15 - 0 (5 Innings)


Game 3


Cambridge Post 84 - 13
St. Clairsville Post 159 - 3 (6 Innings)


Cambridge Leaders

Brock Valentine - double, two singles, 3 RBI
Blade Barclay - triple, double, two singles, RBI
Garrett Burga - double, single, RBI
Collin Campbell - double, single, RBI


St. Clairsville Leaders

Chase Goff - double, RBI
Will Balgo - single, 2 RBI

Cambridge falls short of Don Coss title​
Mike Hughes
Correspondent




Blade Barclay delivers one of his 11 hits this weekend for the Cambridge Legion during the Don Coss tournament.

CAMBRIDGE — Forced to potentially win three games to repeat as tournament champions, Cambridge Post 84 came one game shy of reaching the finals of the Don Coss Tournament on Sunday.

Facing St. Clairsville Post 159, the top team coming out a pool play with a 3-1 mark, Cambridge fell behind early as St. C. hung a four-sport in the fourth inning en route to a 10-4 decision.

Post 159 advanced to face Findlay, a winner against Parkersburg in the 2-3 seed battle earlier Sunday. Post 3 took down St. Clairsville 9-8 to claim the tournament championship.

Sunday’s outcome against St. Clairsville was a stark contrast for Cambridge compared to Thursday’s 13-3 mercy-rule shortened win against 159.
In that game, pitchers Austin Fox and Colin Campbell combined to hold St. C. to just three hits. Sunday, Post 84 pitchers weren’t as fortunate.
Catcher Chase Goff drove in five runs, while Tyler Tonkovich and Drew Sefsick had two apiece as Post 159 banged out 10 runs on 11 hits off the combined efforts of Campbell and Jensen Helmuth.

Caden Burga delivers a two-run double for Cambridge Legion during a Saturday game in the Don Coss tournament.

Helmuth was making his second relief appearance of the day after pitching the final three innings to earn the win against Marietta, 10-8, in the early-morning game.

Garrett Burga drove in a run during the third when he grounded into a fielder’s choice that allowed Blade Barclay to score from third.

But by the time Brock Valentine singled in a pair as part of a 3-run seventh inning, Post 84 trailed by six at that point. Cambridge finished with nine hits off Tonkovich, who allowed only one earned run through six innings of work. Sefsick came on in relief during the seventh to record the final three outs.

Barclay finished 2-of-4 to lead Cambridge, part of a solid weekend for the Post 84 leadoff hitter. Barclay went a combined 11-for-25 with five RBI.

NEXT: Cambridge Post 84’s 3-3 mark in the tournament leaves them with a 16-8 record. They will next host Coshocton on Wednesday for an evening doubleheader at Don Coss.

Jensen Helmuth throws a pitch for Cambridge Legion during Sunday's game in the Don Coss tournament.

Cambridge 10, Marietta 8​
The St. Clairsville game wasn’t the first that Cambridge needed to dig itself out of an early hole on Sunday.
Facing elimination against Marietta, Post 84 fell behind 5-1 after Marietta scored three runs during the top of the fourth inning.
Led by three RBI from Barclay and two from Bryce Murdock, Post 84 scored seven runs during the next two innings to take an 8-5 lead.
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An RBI single from Murdock and an fielder’s choice from Caleb Bond in the sixth inning were still required to break an 8-8 tie after the designated visitors pushed two across in the sixth.

Cambridge was initially set up nicely for a run to the final game as its top two pitchers were rested in Fox and Helmuth, with Campbell ready to go for a potential third game.

But Marietta threw a wrench into those plans by scoring eight runs on 10 hits. It was the second straight game against Marietta that required some late-game heroics to push through.

Jake Valentine hits a RBI single in Sunday's game for Cambridge Legion during the Don Coss tournament.

Saturday, Cambridge led 7-2 before Marietta totaled four runs in the bottom half of the sixth to cut the deficit to 7-6.
Cambridge is 6-1 against Marietta this season, but prior to the Don Coss Tournament, Post 84 had beaten Post 64 by, at minimum, seven runs the previous three meetings.

“The way we played we were lucky to beat Marietta,” Cambridge manager Ron Antill had said Saturday evening after a loss to Findlay. “The last three times we played them, we ‘mercy’d’ them. But we had to come back and beat them (earlier Saturday).
“When you get in the tournament, sometimes things happen here and there.”
Findlay 11, Cambridge 7​
Cambridge’s game against the eventual tournament champions was the night-capper on Saturday and turned into quite an offensive barrage.
Post 84 struck first when a Caden Burga double scored both Barclay and Bond for a 2-0 score.

Caden Burga delivers a pitch for Cambridge Legion during Saturday's game in the Don Coss tournament.

Two innings later, however, Post 3 began lining hard-hit doubles to the gap in right-center in succession, accounting for five runs.
Findlay’s three-four-five portion of the lineup accounted for eight hits and seven RBI during the game, led by 3-of-3 effort from cleanup hitter Ethan Canterbury.

Post 3 tacked on a sixth run in the top of the seventh, meaning Cambridge had to battle back from four down, 6-2, to reach a potential eighth inning.

Following two errors to start the bottom of the seventh, Bond singled to load the bases as Post 84 finally started getting to Findlay starter Schroeder.

Schroeder struck out Burga, but Campbell followed with a single to left field that scored Hayden Loy. Garrett Burga then hit a deep sacrifice to right field that scored Barclay.

Needing two more to tie, lefty Kaden Whaley delivered with a line drive to center field to tie the score at 6-6.

The celebration was short lived, however, as Cambridge was forced to use some of its non-regular arms in the eighth inning, Post 84 was unable to keep Findlay off the scoreboard, as Post 3 pushed five across in the top half of the eighth.

A Caden Burga sac fly scored Murdock to cut the lead to 11-7, but Post 84 could get no further.

“We had kids out here pitching who aren’t even pitchers,” Antill said. “That’s my fault, I didn’t manage it very well. The kids gave it everything they had though and even being four day, we were able to come back and tie it.”