Post 49 back in ALWS after ending Bossier City’s Mid-South Regional streak.
Tupelo (Miss.) Post 49 has been to the American Legion World Series before.
And it enjoyed success as its 2011 team was ALWS runner-up and its 2021 team ended up with a third-place finish.
Fourth-year Post 49 head coach Russell Bunch knows that history as well as anybody as he played for 2011 runner-up coach Kirk Pressley and worked for 2021 third-place finisher McKinley Holland.
“So I’ve been around it for awhile and know that the standard is high and wanted to keep this thing rolling,” Bunch said. “I’ve never been to Shelby but I’m certainly looking forward to it.”
Tupelo nearly made the ALWS two seasons ago as they lost 5-3 to Bossier City (La.) in the 2024 Mid-South Regional finals in Washington, Mo.
Bunch said that loss provided motivation.
“We’ve been working for this the past couple of years,” Bunch said. “We thought we had a chance two years ago but got a little snakebit.”
This season, Tupelo (24-5-1) dethroned Bossier City in the Mid-South after the Louisiana team had won back-to-back titles.
“I knew we were going to get all they had,” Bunch said of Bossier City, whose coach Dane Peavy has guided a 2016 ALWS champion (Texarkana, Ark.) and the Phillies’ back-to-back ALWS teams in 2024 and 2025. “I have a lot of respect for what Dane does over there.”
Post 49, which won its 20th Mississippi state title to qualify for the regional, followed a simple formula in winning four of their five Mid-South Regional games in Gastonia, N.C.
They scored in the first inning of each of their victories, then went scoreless for 5 1/3 innings of Sunday’s loss to Bossier City.
They scored four runs in the first inning of a 5-2 win over Columbia (Tenn.) in the opening game of the tournament, two runs in the first inning of a 7-1 win over Ada (Okla.) and four in the first inning of a 14-0, 5-inning win over Baldwin County (Ala.) in the winner’s bracket final.
Finally, after losing their first game of the tournament, 6-1 to Bossier City, they tallied twice in the first inning of a 16-1, 6-inning title game victory in which they scored in every inning.
Regional MVP Jonas Coleman (.667 average, 3 doubles, 6 RBIs) led an offense that hit a collective .398 in the regional. Other top hitters were Will Moody (.667 average, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs), Collin Flurry (.600 average, 1 double, 1 home run, 3 RBIs), Cooper Goff (.500 average, 2 doubles, 6 RBIs) and Brody Thompson (.467 average, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 4 RBIs)
“This group has a lot of fight in them,” Bunch said. “I know we lost the first one (Sunday) but I never had a doubt that these guys would bounce back.”
ALWS Schedule
Aug. 13: Game 4, vs. Whitehouse (N.J.) Post 284, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 15: Game 8, vs. Lincoln (Neb.) Carpet Land Post 500, 3 p.m.
Aug. 16: Game 12, vs. Fairfield (Calif.) Expos, 7 p.m.
Roster
No./Camo* Name Pos. Ht./Wt. B/T Graduates / School
14/14 Bennett, Kadin 2B / RF 6'0"/180 R/R 2026 / Tupelo HS
13/13 Cates, Ethan 1B / RF 6'1"/225 R/R 2026 / Mooreville HS
20/20 Coker, Jax P / 1B 6'5"/230 R/R 2026 I Tupelo Christian Preparatory School
16/16 Coleman, Jonas 1B / P 6'3"/185 R/R 2025 I Starkville HS
15/15 Edmiston, Brayden P / 1B 6'6"/205 L/R 2026 I New Hope HS
12/12 Enis, JP 3B / P 6’1”/180 L/R 2027 I Tupelo HS
22/22 Evers, Jordan P /RF 6'4"/215 R/R 2025 I Saltillo HS
5/7 Flurry, Colin 3B / LF 6'1"/205 R/R 2025 I Boonevilte HS
8/8 Goff, Cooper 2B / SS 5'10”/190 R/R 2026 I Mooreville HS
18/1 Lackie, Braedyn 2B/ P 5'8"/165 R/R 2026 I Hamilton HS
9/9 Lott, Cade P / RF 5'11"/165 L/L 2026 I Booneville HS
10/10 Matthews, Jacob C/3B 5'10"/180 R/R 2026 I Booneville HS
24/21 McDaniels, Eli C/RF 6'1"/205 L/R 2029 I Mooreville HS
23/11 McDaniels, Wyatt C/P 6'2"/215 R/R 2027 I Mooreville HS
6/6 Moody, Will 2B/ P 6'0"/175 R/R 2026 / Starkville HS
4/4 Strong, Aidan P /3B 6'3"/195 R/R 2026 / Itawamba Agricultural HS
2/2 Thompson, Brody CF/SS 6'0"/188 R/R 2025 I Mooreville HS
0/19 Whitaker, JD P/2B 5'11"/175 R/R 2026 I Hamilton HS
Head coach: Russell Bunch
Assistant: Russ Payne
*Players will wear camo jerseys for Military Appreciation Day.
Regional results
Aug. 6: Tupelo (Miss.) Post 49 d. Columbia (Tenn.) Post 19, 5-2.
Aug. 7: Tupelo (Miss.) Post 49 d. Ada (Okla.) Braves, 7-1.
Aug. 8: Tupelo (Miss.) Post 49 d. Baldwin County (Ala.) Post 199, 14-0 (5 innings).
Aug. 9: Bossier City (La.) Phillies d. Tupelo (Miss.) Post 49, 6-1.
Aug. 9: Tupelo (Miss.) Post 49 d. Bossier City (La.) Phillies, 16-1 (6 innings).
- Baseball