Prep Athlete of the Week: Post 6 Sixers

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - While Cheyenne Frontier Days dominated last week’s sports scene in the capital city, the Sixers were dominating the state tournament in Jackson.

For the fourth year in a row, the Wyoming AA Legion Baseball season ended with Post 6 winning a state championship. The victory qualified them for the Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament this coming weekend, but the team has still been able to soak in the feeling of another title.

“Really proud of these guys. It started for us really in the middle of November getting our work in in our indoor, and all of that work from then to now is just to try to get that done. It was really cool to get to watch this group celebrate and accomplish some of their goals here,” head coach Ty Lain said.

“It just feels really good because granted, not a lot of people get to go and not a lot of people get to win. But going in and the state tournament that we had, coming out the way we did it was really special. Just doing it, just winning one, it’s awesome. It just feels so good,” catcher/first baseman Hayden Swaen said.

Swaen was a huge reason why the Sixers completed their four-peat; he batted .500 during the week with two homers, eight RBIs, and five runs scored to win the tournament MVP.

Post 6 had a run differential of +34 across their five wins, which doesn’t happen unless everyone on the team is firing on all cylinders. Players like Mason Tafoya, Corey Williams, and Julian Romero all played crucial roles in the Sixers’ run production across the week, with Williams and Romero also entrusted to close games on the mound.

Two of the team’s victories came in critical stages of the tournament against Casper. The first meeting they were the lone undefeated teams left in the winner’s bracket, and the second was for all the marbles in the title game. Those contests were where star seniors Colter McAnelly and Bradley Feezer shined the most. The former struck out 15 and hit a go ahead three run homer in the first game, and the latter took the mound in the championship and delivered a masterful showing to secure the four-peat.

”[In the first Casper game] I needed to go out and pitch with a lead, and I tried to bunt the first pitch, maybe get someone in position for Julian to drive them in. They threw a ball, then I got a curveball that I could hit over... Towards the third inning we figured out they were going to hit the curveball and try to foul off the fastball. So we just started throwing fastballs and that’s what worked,” McAnelly said.

“I thrive in those situations. I love those high pressure, high intensity situations. I feel like that makes me better on the mound. So when I figured out I was getting the ball in the championship game, and that they had to beat us twice-- Coach Lain kept saying ‘they got to beat us for 14 innings’, and in the back of my mind I was like ‘no, they’re not gonna beat us,’” Feezer said.

Congratulations to the Post 6 Sixers on extending their title reign.

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