Beckley Bash Post 32 opens American Legion State Tournament play Thursday morning

The Beckley Bash will battle Berkeley Springs Post 60 Knight in the opener

Beckley Bash Post 32 head coach Jordan Meadows was convinced before the American Legion Area 3 Tournament, as long as his team made the State Tournament it could do some damage.

That goal was accomplished with a win over old nemesis South Charleston last Friday.

Now, the road to the American Legion state championship starts Thursday morning at 10 a.m. against Berkeley Springs Post 60 Knights (18-7).

The tournament is a double-elimination format consisting of eight teams and runs from Thursday through the championship series Monday.

All games are scheduled to be played on Dale Miller Field at Mylan Park in Morgantown.

The positive for Post 32 is the squad is very familiar with the Morgantown surrounding having won the 2025 Mountaineer Country Invitational there in late June.

The Bash and Post 60 met twice in the regular season at Linda K. Epling Stadium, splitting a doubleheader.

Beckley (18-13-1) has eight regulars hitting north of .300 led by former Nicholas County all-stater Cole Brown (.366). Woodrow Wilson all-stater Maddex Sims is hitting .349 followed by Independence standout Levi Barnett at .340.

Current Glenville State player Jake Meadows checks in at .337, while Wyoming East all-state selection Zach Hunt hits .328. WVU-Tech commit Cole Cunningham bats .325 and leads the team with 22 RBI's.

Sims and Meadows have 30 hits apiece for the Bash. Brown leads the team with 13 extra base hits, including three home runs.

The former Grizzly has also been the workhorse on the mound with 37 strikeouts over 37 innings pitched. Eli Green checks in right behind Brown with 32 K's in 36 innings.

Former Greenbrier East standout Gabe Patton has been strong down the stretch for the Beckley Bash going 3-1 in five starts.

The Knights are paced by Ein Wolfe hitting .444 and Landon Pence at .405. Pence also leads the team with 28 RBI's and Wolfe has driven in 22 runs.

Wolfe is the ace of a strong staff going 4-0 on the season, followed by Jay Viands (4-1) and Kolton Stefanko (4-1).

The winner of the opening contest will play again at 4 p.m. Friday and the loser will move to the elimination round at 10 a.m. The outcome between Clarksburg Post 13 (10-11) and Wheeling Post 1 (26-7-1) will determine the opponents.

Area 3 champion Charleston Post 65 (17-15) will play Berkeley Post 14 (18-8) following the Bash game.

The remaining teams include Parkersburg Post 15 (27-9) and Morgantown Post 2 (12-12).

All tournament games can be viewed on the MetroNews TV App. Live audio streams are also available on wajr.com and wvmetronews.com.

The state champion will advance to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament in Hanover, Md. starting August 6.