Five Days of NC Legion Baseball, A Death and One Champion
By: Rusty Wise – Wise News Network
Cherryville, NC (WNN) – A small town just northwest of Charlotte, NC, is a town that loves baseball, and its name is Cherryville. The 2024 American Legion Baseball State Tournament for the Senior Boy’s Teams was held July 20th through the 24th at Buck Fraley Field in Cherryville.ย
The first Day, Saturday, started smoothly as the games progressed on time throughout the day. However, American Legion Officials learned during Saturday’s games that NC American Legion Area IV Chairman and Tournament Co-Chairman Jerry “Fatty” Hudson, 76, had suddenly passed away after ongoing health issues. When the call came in, he had just been relocated to a rehab facility and suffered an apparent heart attack. Hudson was instrumental in getting the tournament to Cherryville; the news shocked the community. “We are in total shock hearing about Fatty; this was his tournament as he put a lot of it together,” stated Jill Puett with the American Legion Post 100 Auxiliary and Cherryville’s Mayor Pro-Tem.
The last game on Saturday featured the host team, Cherryville Post 100, vs. Garner Post 232 at 7:30 p.m. Before the game, during the opening ceremonies, NC American Legion Adjutant Mark Cauble spoke to the crowd, announcing the death of Fatty Hudson. Cauble conducted a 45-second moment of silence for the years Hudson had served. Also, before the game, the outfield flags were lowered to half-mast to honor and remember Hudson. Cauble continued with opening remarks, stating, “On behalf of the Department of North Carolina, we are deeply saddened, and our prayers go out to the family and the community….Jerry would not want us to stop playing baseball”.
During the opening prayer on Saturday night, a crack of lightning struck close, and a severe thunderstorm came out of nowhere. Pouring rain started during the National Anthem, and the night was done. The game was moved to the following day (Sunday) at 9:30 a.m., which meant five games needed to be played on Sunday.
Dalton Pence was to perform Saturday night’s opening pitch ceremony, but it was delayed until the next day. Pence was the Grand Marshal for Friday’s Tournament Parade and was recently drafted by the Texas Rangers. Pitcher Pence played for the Cherryville Ironmen, Cherryville Post 100, and the Carolina Tarheels as a pitcher. Before the pitch, Pence stated, “They (fans) come out and make us feel like heroes in the summer. Especially when I played here, I felt like a small-town hero playing in Cherryville. But just learning how to compete and competing for each other and playing under coach Reynolds, it was a blessing for me”.
The winners of day one of the five days were Union County Post 535, Wayne County Post 11, Shelby Post 82, and Garner Post 232, all of which stayed in the winners bracket. Losers of day one included Hamlet Post 49, High Point Post 87, Wilmington Post 10, and host team Cherryville Post 100.
All five games were supposed to be completed on Sunday, day two, requiring Garner and Cherryville to play two games that day. Unfortunately, Cherryville Post 100 lost its first two games and was eliminated from the tournament by Garner and Wilmington, respectively. High Point also lost its first two games to Wayne County and Hamlet, sending them home. The weather postponed Garner’s second game of the day against Shelby until Monday morning. The day two schedule winners included Wayne County, Hamlet, and Wilmington.
Rain and storms made Fraley Field in Cherryville unplayable Sunday night, so the first two games were moved to Sims Legion Park in Gastonia, NC, some 17 miles away. The first game at Sims featured Shelby defeating Garner, and the second game, Wilmington defeating Union County, eliminating Union County from the tournament.
The following two games for day three continued at Fraley Field, where Garner eliminated Hamlet with a win, and Wayne County defeated Shelby, eliminating Shelby with a win.
Wayne County was the only undefeated team going into day four. However, the schedule for Tuesday, day four, was moved up due to threatening rain. The 1 p.m. game had Shelby vs. Wilmington in an elimination game, which Shelby lost to Wilmington. The 4 p.m. game was Wayne County vs. Garner, which Wayne County won, eliminating Garner from the field.
Wednesday’s Championship Game setup was undefeated Wayne County Post 11 against Wilmington Post 10. The game moved to 11 a.m. due to forecasted storms in the Cherryville area. Wayne County Post 11 defeated Wilmington by a score of 7-2. The undefeated Wayne County made it easy with good hitting and pitching throughout the tournament.
After the championship game, Wayne County Head Coach Adam Pate said, “It feels really good; we came up short last year being runner-up. Our pitching was phenomenal, and everybody on our pitching staff touched the mound. Our pitching has been a strong point all year. We also wore these throwback jerseys from the 2007-2011 seasons to honor all those guys”. Also, on how Cherryville hosted the tournament, Pate said, “They’ve been nothing but the best when it comes to hosting a team from four hours away, feeding us, taking care of us, whatever we need. This is Legion Baseball at its finest”.
Wayne County shortstop Davis Albert, one of the key players, played in the 2021 Championship Tournament in Cherryville with his brother. In a post-game interview, Albert stated, “We said it from the beginning of the summer. We will win the state championship, that’s the goal, and then regionals. And hopefully, I have to believe the World Series, so the job’s not finished. Legion Baseball is special because you get to play with the friends you grew up with and your classmates. I’ve never really been in travel ball, so I started playing Legion, and it’s been amazing ever since I started five years ago”.
It was Wayne County’s first-ever NC American Legion State Tournament title after it had been runner-up seven times in the tournament, most recently in 2023.
It was a long week for everyone involved, even the umpires. During the 14th and final game, energetic umpire Mark Fitzgerald stated, “This is my 8th game of the tournament umpiring; I love it and enjoy being available for the tournament.”
A common theme heard during the tournament from the players is that they love playing American Legion Baseball with their friends and interacting with American Legion members and veterans. With all the avenues for baseball athletes these days, you can’t get these types of memories and interactions just anywhere.
Ned Yates, Cherryville’s Post 100 Athletic Officer, stated that they gave teams questionnaires to fill out about their experience in the tournament to help make decisions in the future. Cherryville Post 100 will host the 2025 State Tournament in Cherryville and possibly the 2026 Southeast Regionals. Plans include covering the grandstands and perhaps placing artificial turf for the infield to help combat future weather delays.
It was a stressful week with the weather, changing game times, changing ballparks, and even death. Still, the American Legion Officials, Cherryville Post 100 members, umpires, grounds crew, and all volunteers hung in there, making it an enjoyable experience for everyone. Kudos to Cherryville and everyone involved. You did well.
Video highlights of the 2024 NC American Legion Baseball State Tournament:
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