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The Troy Post 70 summer baseball program launched its inaugural Post 70 Fall League this year, the first fall league for high school students in the Troy area.

Troy Post 70 head coach Ross Hixon said the fall league is something he and his staff have been thinking about for a number of years.

“For the first time ever we have put together a small fall baseball league for local kids in the area, plus a few outside of the area,” Hixon said. “We talked about this the last couple of years. We gauged the interest from high school coaches, players and parents to see if we could make it work and the feedback was really good.”

Hixon said his staff wanted to be able to offer baseball players that aren’t playing football in the area a chance to compete and get better before baseball season. A number of players from Charles Henderson, Pike Liberal Arts School and other schools from the area make up the rosters of three teams that compete against one another. There are also a handful of players from as far away as Pike Road and Slocomb.

Hixon said that he wanted to keep players from the same high school together on the same team, so they could also work on their chemistry, as well.

“It’s a very stress-free environment for the kids that aren’t playing basketball and football to be able to compete and get better,” he said. “We want to help them identify things they need to work on heading into the spring and also use it as a recruiting tool for kids we may want to play for us in the summer.

“You’re playing and competing against another team but it’s more of a stress-free environment, we’re not even turning the scoreboard on. We’re just trying to help you get better at the game. I’ve told a lot of them that if you can take away one thing from the fall that helps you get better, it’s beneficial.”

Hixon said that the teams have been able to compete at venues like LBW’s baseball stadium and will also play at Riddle-Pace Field in Troy later this fall.

“We’re trying to give the kids a chance to play on a college field and bounce around to a couples of venues they may not get a chance to play in otherwise,” he said.

The Troy Post 70 staff has been able to build a solid relationship with area high school coaches, who have helped with the league.

“Because of our relationship with the coaches we can talk with them about what their players need to work on and we can help with that,” said Hixon. “The kids get a chance to be coached by someone else and hear a different voice and hopefully learn some new things. (CHHS head coach) Chase Smartt has been a real asset for us in getting this thing going. We have a bunch of his kids playing and he trusts us.”

Hixon said that Post 70 plans to do the fall league annually and hopes to push the league to four teams moving forward.