WHEELING — A season to remember. Make that two seasons to remember.

Wheeling Post 1’s American Legion baseball team enjoyed another brilliant summer of success. Post 1 finished the campaign with a sparkling 32-13 record.

Those 32 wins encompassed an impressive second-place finish in the massive Edgar Martin Beast of the East Classic, a regional tournament win and, most importantly, a second straight state championship.

Prior to last year, Wheeling had not captured a state crown since 1988. Former Wheeling Park High head coach Mark Delbrugge assumed the Post 1 coaching reins three years ago. He obviously possesses a magical touch.

The Post 1 program has undergone a renaissance the past three seasons thanks to great leadership from top to bottom.

Delbrugge’s presence has yielded impressive on-field success.

“We lost seven very good players from the 2015 state title team so we knew we had to have some of our young guys step up and fill in those holes for us to have a chance to repeat. We also knew that South Charleston had one of its better teams they have had in many years so we knew it was going to being an extremely difficult challenge to repeat as state champions,” Delbrugge said. “This season was one that I will remember for many, many years. It was just a great group of young men to coach. We had a few bumps in the road but these guys are true champions and it was a privilege to coach them.”

Delbrugge is one key piece in an impressive organizational setup.

Donald Tennant is another. He is the president of the athletic club and was big in putting the needed infrastructure in place to keep success flowing down the Post 1 pipeline.

“Until three seasons ago, our club only sponsored one 18-man varsity squad. The board recognized the dynamics surrounding summer baseball have evolved with the advent of travel baseball. We needed to compete to keep our best players. We wanted to provide players and families the opportunity to play very competitive baseball (40 to 50 games and conduct excellent repetitive practicing of baseball skills) to advance the baseball skills of players for their upcoming high school seasons and for college play at the lowest cost to families,” Tennant said. “The varsity squad participation is cost free. Thus, the board established two additional teams of junior varsity (16-17-year-old players) and 15U.

“The fruits of this system have put Post 1 back on track as the premier Legion baseball program in West Virginia. In 2015, we won our first state championship in 26 years. To go back-to-back this year confirms the ‘feeder system’ that the board established to compete with travel baseball. We have been successful in keeping players who have signed Division I and many Division II players,” he added. “This has put us back to the position of competing statewide with the powerful South Charleston team that recruits from several more southern high school teams than we have. Historically, over the past 10 years we were competing against Legion teams that had as many as six college level freshman participating and we may have only had one college player. Now our success has put us in a position to entice the college freshman to return to play on a very good competitive team.”

Tennant reinforces the value and rewards of player development.

“The most important difference we provide is actual weekday team practices and individual player workouts to develop player skills. For every hour a player drives in a car to play travel ball, we provide actual on-field practice with repetition that will better enhance the players’ skill set,” Tennant noted. “Over the three years, we have essentially trained 45 boys per summer at a high competitive level to develop their skills. This provides the local families an excellent alternative to the expensive, time-consuming, elongated travel weekends of a travel team scenario.”

Delbrugge will not become complacent. He is already looking forward to 2017.

“I believe that Post 1 baseball is in the best shape it has been in for quite some time. We lose four very good players but our nucleus is returning and some of the young guys on our JV and 15U team make it a real possibility to win a third title in a row and make a run at a regional title,” Delbrugge said.

BUBBA’S BITS

REGARDLESS OF the event, the Summer Olympics make for great theater. One of the most entertaining of sports is rugby. You have to be one tough customer to play it. Meanwhile, American swimmers and female gymnasts are truly amazing.

THE FOURTH annual Mike McFarland 5K will be held Saturday, Sept. 3 at 8 a.m. starting at the Bellaire park. Race fee is $20 in advance and $25 race day. Students may enter for $10. Pre-registration available at the Bellaire

Park on Friday, Sept. 2 from 6-8 p.m. Forms can also be mailed to St. John Central High School until Aug. 29.

I HAD the opportunity to meet Wheeling Park track great Richard Cummings Friday at his college scholarship signing ceremony. The six-time state chmapion has cast his collegiate lot with Wheeling Jesuit. Cummings is an amazing young man. Not only is he a hurdling star, he is a star in the classroom. He graduated with a 3.85 GPA and was a member of the National Honor Society and Jazz Band. He chose WJU over some dozen other offers because he said it presented him “the best opportunity.”