ALBEMARLE — The 2022 North Carolina American Legion Area III baseball playoffs begin this weekend between the league’s Northern and Southern divisions, and the Stanly County Post 76 team (9-10, 5-5 South) will try and make a postseason run.
The results from this event will impact the upcoming North Carolina State Tournament (July 26-30), Southeast Regional Tournament (Aug. 3-7) and American Legion World Series (Aug. 11-16).
Stanly concluded its regular season schedule Tuesday with a road trip to face league-heavyweight Rowan County (28-7, 11-0 South). The results from that matchup will impact the seeding for the Area III playoffs that run through July 8-10.
Stanly’s final score at Rowan could determine if it will ultimately be a third, fourth or fifth seed in the tournament. As it stands, Stanly sits at third in its division standings behind a pair of teams — Rowan and Kannapolis (15-6, 6-4 South) — and just ahead of a pair of teams, Davidson County (8-13, 5-5 South) and Mooresville (6-16, 4-5 South).
The North is currently led by Eastern Randolph (13-8, 7-2) and Randolph County (19-8, 5-2).
In this weekend’s Area III playoffs, South’s seventh seed will play North’s second seed while South’s sixth seed will play North’s third seed. Additionally, South’s fifth seed will play North’s fourth seed while South’s third seed will play North’s sixth seed. South’s fourth seed will play North’s fifth seed.
This has been the first season for Stanly coach Craig Bolton, who is also entering his second year as Pfeiffer University’s coach. The team did not play last season but got back on track this spring with a full slate of games, including its usual home games at West Stanly High School.
The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization, and the Stanly’s junior team won the league’s World Series Championship in 1940.