Rock Hill American Legion baseball team reloads. Can Post 34 make a run at a state title?

As the Rock Hill American Legion Post 34 baseball team prepared for its season opener against Anderson Post 14 on Wednesday night, the energy was palpable.

The team is coming off back-to-back trips to the state championship round, beating Camden in 2022 for the first state title in program history before losing to Florence in 2023.

Ten-year head coach Jeremy McCoy is heading into this season with similar expectations.

“We have a rich tradition of winning and making deep runs in the playoffs and chasing state championships,” McCoy said. “Our goal as a team is no different. We want to first and foremost win our league. We’ve won the league back-to-back years. We want to do that. We want to three-peat there and get back into the state tournament and see where the chips fall from there.”

McCoy, who has spent the past six seasons as the varsity assistant at Rock Hill High School, said he still wants his players to enjoy themselves as they contend for the state championship.

The players understand they are playing for and representing the veterans of the American Legion.

“The biggest thing as the head coach here is it’s summer ball, I try to let these guys be who they are,” McCoy said. “When they come out here, we try to have as much fun as possible. At the end of the day, I tell them when the lights come on, we’re ready to win baseball games. They know that. We do lean on it a little bit, but I let these teams take their own path of what they’re going to be and who the leaders are going to be.”

One of those leaders is shortstop and pitcher Tyler Champagne.

Champagne just finished his freshman season at Limestone University, where he batted .279 with 14 RBIs across 27 games for the Saints. Champagne played high school baseball at Legion Collegiate Academy.

Champagne was on last year’s Post 34 baseball team and said that he loves coming back to have some fun with his old high school friends and teammates.

“Playing school ball is stressful for anybody, so this is my time to relax and have some fun memories,” Champagne said. “At the end of the day, it’s just a game, so that’s what I have to remember during the summer. I try to let myself work on things. I try to just let things flow.”

As one of the older players on the team, Champagne said he’s ready to take a larger role.

Last season’s team had several college-aged players that led the charge. Now, it’s his turn.

“I definitely want to carry on into being in a leadership role, 100 percent,” Champagne said. “You can be a leader no matter where you’re at, but last year, a lot of older guys took that role. I think it’s my time to take that into my part of the team. I think that’s where my experience level is, whether it’s pitching, fielding, hitting, I’m going to bring it to the team.”

McCoy said the most rewarding part of coaching Post 34 baseball for the past ten years wasn’t the state championship win two years ago.

It’s the relationships he’s built with the players and getting to watch them mature as both athletes and men.

“I’ve been around long enough to where I’ve gotten to see some of these kids go off and play college ball and got to watch them play college ball,” McCoy said. “I’ve had a couple guys go play professional baseball and then just watch them grow as people. I’ve seen some of them get married and start having families of their own. That’s the most rewarding thing to me. The basic ball is secondary to me.”

Rock Hill beat Anderson on Wednesday, 14-1, thanks to three RBIs apiece from designated hitter Elijah Sanders and first baseman Gavin MacDonald. To that end, McCoy’s group is off to a good start.