Published: May 07, 2008 11:33 pm         

Bash find new home at Post 149

The post number has changed, but the Beckley Bash is still open for business.

A dispute in the fall resulted in the Bash and American Legion Post 32 parting ways after a 10-year partnership. The Bash’s headquarters is now at LaFayette Post 149 in Fayetteville.

“We just want everyone to know that we are still playing,” first-year manager Justin Tabor said. “The Bash is still around and competing in American Legion baseball.

“A lot of kids didn’t think we were having a team.”

The Bash will retain its Beckley name and continue to play home games at Oak Hill High School. But its roster could have a slightly different look.

With the new headquarters, the Bash has a different region from which it can accept players. Athletes from Oak Hill, Fayetteville and Nicholas County have committed to the Bash, which begins its season June 3 at home versus Buckhannon Post 7.

Post 32 will sponsor a new team and will recruit the same territory as the Bash before it. The exceptions are Clay County’s Jared Kleman and J.D. Johnson and James Monroe’s Logan Ray, the only returning players from last year’s Bash roster.

Other schools from which the Bash can recruit are Valley, Riverside, Roane County and Sissonville.

Tabor expressed gratitude to Post 149 for accepting the Bash program.

“They have been very hospitable,” he said. “They had a vote to determine if they wanted baseball and it was a unanimous decision. We are grateful to have them. We really feel better off with them.”

The Post 149 LaFayette/Beckley Bash will hold open tryouts June 1 at Oak Hill and June 2 at WVU Tech’s Doug Epling Field in East Bank. Anyone interested can call Tabor at 228-5811 for more information.