After day one of the Post 70 Invitational was washed out Thursday due to rain, local teams walked away with convincing wins on Friday.

The 17 and under Showcase team defeated South Lamar 14-4, while the 15 and Under team rolled to a 16-1 win over Central Alabama Prospects.

One local team was not able to get their tournament under way; however, the Under 17 Maroon’s 9:30 a.m. game against Tuscaloosa Post 34 was cancelled due to poor conditions after yesterday’s storm.

The Showcase team got things going in the right direction Friday afternoon. After falling behind early they were able to grind their way back and win their first game of the tournament.

“I was impressed with how the guys were able to fight back from a 4 run deficit early, especially since this was our first game as an entire group and we have only had a couple of practices earlier this week,” head coach Nick Collins said. “We wanted to be aggressive and they stuck to the game plan.  Mackenzie Hicks brought a lot of energy and the team fed off that.”

Starting pitcher Jack Knight took the ball for the 17U Showcase squad; he let up two runs early but settled down and pitched well for the rest of his appearance. He allowed two runs off two hits while striking out five batters.

“Jack Knight struggled with his command early, but settled down and did a good job of limiting the runs early,” Collins said.

Mackenzie Hicks led the way offensively; he finished the game going 4-4 with a double, two runs scored, and two runs batted in. Logan Thompson also had a multi-hit game, going 2-2, with two runs scored, and he also had two runs batted in.

Hunter Jones, Jacob Free, Hunter Windham, and Connor Davis also had drove in runs on Friday.

The 15 and under squad also performed really well late Friday night. They beat the Central Alabama Prospects 16-1 in a three-inning mercy-rule game.

“I told the guys before the game to be aggressive,” head coach Brett Price said. “I thought they did that and also be patient at the same time. They walked us a lot, but credit our guys for taking a lot of pitches.

After falling behind 1-0 in the top half of the first the 15U team battled back and took the lead in the bottom of the first.

The big inning occurred in the third inning, where the 15U team mounted a huge rally sending 16 batters to the plate in the third inning.

Walks propelled the offense Friday night. The 15 and Under team walked a total of 15 times. The 16 runs were scored off just five hits.

The Showcase team will be back in action Saturday morning against the Central Alabama Prospects played at Pike Liberal Arts School, while the Maroon team will play at 3 against Post 12.

Post 70 Maroon will be back in action Saturday morning when they play Albany Post 30 at Riddle-Pace Field at 9:30 a.m., while Post 70 Black (Showcase) will play at 10 a.m. against Central Alabama Prospects at Pike Liberal Arts School.

The 15 and under team will play 9:30 a.m. against Americus Travelers at 9:30 a.m. at Charles Henderson.