Legion seniors at .500; Legion juniors win early

The Orange American Legion Post 156 senior league team is off to a 3-3 start after the first two weeks of its summer season.
The Orange boys opened with a 4-2 win over Fluvanna Post 2003 and followed that up with a 6-1 win over Post 89 King George.
But then Orange lost a pair of slugfests with Post 74 Albemarle 18-12 and 12-11.
The local boys came back to beat King George again 5-2 but lost 6-5 to King George to even their record at 3-3.
"We've got a chance to be a really good ball club," manager Chris Haney said. "We're going to hit enough and pitch well enough to win. If we can catch the ball and play good defense, we'll be a good ball club."
So far, that's been a challenge. "We've kicked it around pretty good," Haney said. "There's no special formula. We just need to catch and throw and play the game simply and cleanly. If we can get our guys to do that, we'll win ball games."
Thus far, Haney said Nick Bledsoe has pitched well for Orange and D.J. Brown has been hitting well for Orange.
Orange plays a doubleheader at Porterfield Park Saturday against Waynesboro Post 340 beginning at 5. The senior team splits a doubleheader with the junior squad Sunday with the juniors opening at 4.
Pulled pork barbecue should be available for fans Sunday afternoon.

The American Legion Post 156 junior squad opened its season Saturday, June 13 with a 14-2 win over Staunton Post 13.
Since then, the Orange juniors have won two more games and dropped three in their 2009 summer season.
Against Staunton, Orange's offense was on fire. Tyler Seal scored twice and drove in three runs, including a two-run homer to left field. Rahiem Cooper had two hits, scored twice and drove in two. Chase Hutchison scored three times and drove in two, while Zak Reininger had two hits and scored twice.
On the mound, Dillon Wagner threw four innings of three-hit ball, striking out five. Mitchell King tossed a scoreless inning in relief.
The following day, Orange traveled to a doubleheader against the Crozet Sharks. Orange won the first game 5-3, but dropped the nightcap 7-4.
In the first game, manager Brian Rasnick said Hutchison was outstanding on the mound, throwing five innings, giving up just three hits and two earned runs. Nolan Moore picked up the save, throwing two innings and allowing just one run. Offensively, Cooper had two hits, scored twice, and drove in a run. Austin Roberts had two hits and two runs batted in and Seal scored twice.
In the second game, Cooper had three hits and scored once while Seal scored two more. Brenton Pitts drove in a pair of runs.
Monday night, Orange lost 10-7 to the Louisa Generals. It was Orange's fourth game in three days which may have accounted for their 10 errors.
Louisa jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two innings, but Orange rallied before falling short.
Austin Oliver threw 4 and 1/3 innings of one-hit relief, allowing no earned runs. Offensively, Seal had three hits, scored once and drove in a run. Cooper drove in a pair of runs, while Roberts had two hits and a run batted in. Pitts had three hits, while Wagner added two hits and scored once, while David Dulin had two hits and a run batted in.
Orange opens a doubleheader Sunday at Porterfield Park at 4 p.m., followed by the senior league squad at 7 p.m.