Post 20 to host D-Day baseball tourney
Published 4:14 pm Thursday, June 6, 2019
On Saturday, the American Legion Thomas R. Mackin Post 20 of Selma will sponsor a 75th Anniversary of D-Day Baseball Tournament at Bloch Park from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The event will tentatively be rescheduled for Saturday, June 15 in the event of rain – according to The Weather Channel, there is a 90-percent chance of rain in Selma this weekend.
The tournament will feature American Legion-sponsored youth baseball teams from across the region, including Post 20’s team which features players from Morgan Academy, Meadowview Christian School, Dallas County High School and Keith High School.
Currently, the team is 5-6 and finished second in a tournament in Tuscaloosa last weekend.
Other teams that will participate in Saturday’s tournament include Legion-sponsored teams from Centreville, Tuscaloosa and Leeds, with Selma slated to take the field around noon.
“It’s great for the community and for the players, parents, coaches and fans,” said Jerome Hand, Head Coach for Post 20’s team. “Most of those love baseball and love America and we have a chance to put the two together. It is a win-win situation. And, it’s some really competitive and entertaining baseball.”
Though the local post has sponsored a youth baseball team for the past several years, according to Post 20 Adjutant John Coon, this is the first time the group has sponsored a tournament of this nature.
“Coach Hand thought the tournament would be a great way to recognize this important event in our country’s history,” Coon said. “It will also provide the team members an opportunity to meet several World War II veterans who actually were involved in the D-Day invasion.”
Among the veterans that will be in attendance for the tournament are Tom Sherrer and Pete Edwards, whose stories from World War II were featured in the D-Day edition of The Selma Times-Journal.
“Both of these men actually crossed the beaches of Normandy in the first several weeks after the invasion,” Coon said. “Selma has been the home to both of these patriotic Americans since they returned from their service in Europe.”
