The American Legion Post 70 baseball team knocked off Columbia Post 19 13-2 on Monday morning to claim the Father’s Day Classic championship at Riddle-Pace Field.

“We went out there and gave up a run in the first inning,” said coach Rush Hixon. “After that, we answered with 8 runs. For us to answer with any runs is big. After that, we never looked back. I’m really proud of the team effort. I felt like we dominated after that first inning.”

Monday’s lopsided win capped off a 4-1 tournament that saw Post 70 outscore their opponents 35-7.

“We were able to win the tournament which is always a positive thing,” Hixon said. “We started out the year 1-3, so for us to get some games under our belt and being able to play the right brand of baseball is big. To win a tournament gives us momentum heading into this week.”

Charlie James got the start for Post 70 and pitched all five innings of the shortened final. Post 70 finished with seven hits by seven different hitters. Gage Herring, Nathan Renfroe, Brayden Baggett, Gabe Anderson, Dylan Register, DJ Law and Logan Thompson all logged a hit for Post 70.

Columbia cracked the score board first in the top half of the first inning when they picked up a doubled followed by a single. Post 70 answered quickly in the bottom half of the inning. After a quick out, Herring singled before Register and DJ Law reached via the walk. Renfroe cleared the bases with a double under the glove of a diving center fielder to put Post 70 up 3-1.

Renfroe came around to score on a wild pitch and Anderson doubled to left to put Post 70 up 5-1.

Columbia’s pitcher picked up just one out in the inning before being pulled. By inning’s end, post 70 scored three more runs and took a commanding 8-1 lead heading into the second.

Columbia walked five batters in the second that helped allow Post 70 to score five more runs. Law had the only RBI hit of the inning. The other four came on walks and errors.

Following the win, Baggett was awarded the tournament MVP Award.

Post 70 will be back in action today when they travel to Marbury High School to take on Tri-County in a double-header.