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Troy Post 70 will be in action one final time tonight as they face off against Midland Post 165 (Michigan) for the championship title in the American Legion 19U World Series, being played on national television.

Troy and Midland have been the two most consistent and dominant teams in the World Series thus far. Troy holds a 3-1 record and has given up just six runs in the entire series, pitching two shutouts in the last two games.

“I think we’ve done really well,” Post 70 coach Ross Hixon said. “We’ve pitched the ball really well. We’ve played the most innings of anyone here to this point and we’re sill in really good position with our pitching, which is a testament to our staff. We’ve also gotten some really timely hitting and played good defense.”

In the semifinals not only did Troy toss a two hit shutout but the team had just one error as a team, as well.

“We feely really good at every position defensively,” said Hixon. “We stress to the pitchers to pitch contact and challenge players in their strike zones. We can live with someone beating us if they hit us and earn it.

“You want to limit your walks and limit your errors, and we’ve done pretty good there. We just want to put the ball in play to somebody and we feel good about getting anyone out wherever it goes to.”

Meanwhile, Midland is undefeated and has also been solid defensively, allowing just five total runs throughout the World Series.

“When we first got here, passing the eye test on day one, we felt like Michigan would be one of the best teams here and they have been,” Hixon emphasized. “They’re really solid on the mound and they don’t have a weakness one through nine in their lineup. They also play good defense. They’re built a lot like us and they do things the right way. It should be a really good game between two similar teams.”

This is Post 70’s second appearance in the World Series Championship game (winning it in 2020) in the last three years, which is a tremendous achievement but not something that Hixon is trying to focus on with his team.

“Either way this is going to be a bittersweet game because, win or lose, it’s the last time we get to coach this group and this a really fun group to be around,” he said. “I don’t want to put the championship on this big pedestal and put pressure on them that way, I just want them to enjoy playing together one more time, win or lose.”

Post 70 plays Midland in the World Series Championship tonight at 6 p.m. in a game that will air live on ESPNU.