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By DARRYL MAXIE, Sentinel Sports Editor

An American Legion baseball state championship is on the line today in Loganville. The odds may even be against Douglasville Post 145 getting it.

But, then again, the odds were against them even making it to the final — especially after they fell behind by five runs Tuesday against Rockdale. Post 145 nevertheless rallied and then pulled away for an 11-5 victory that put them in the 1 p.m. final against Conyers.

Conyers needs one victory today to wrap up the title. Douglasville, having lost on Monday to Conyers in the double-elimination tournament, needs to win twice. And that, perhaps, without its best pitcher.

Post 145 rode Josh Smith for the final 7 1/3 innings after starter Bradley Mills got in trouble. Four walks over the first 1 2/3 innings helped put Douglasville in a 5-0 hole.

Smith kept Rockdale from adding to it, giving Tanner Bryant and Dusty Davis time to come up with big hits to bring Post 145 back from the precipice.

Bryant belted a two-run homer in the fourth inning, highlighting a three-run rally that brought Post 145 back to within 5-3. Two more runs in the sixth inning tied it, and put Davis — who seldom saw a hittable pitch, with three walks and one hit by pitch — in position for a heroic drive.

He smashed another two-run homer that gave Douglasville the lead for good at 7-5 in the seventh.

Smith seemed to feed off his team’s momentum, getting stronger the closer his team got. All five of his strikeouts were recorded from the seventh inning on. He allowed only four hits and walked only two.

Gavin Peters, Martin Castro and Garrett Hayes all recorded two-hit games, but offense is hardly what Post 145 has to be concerned about. Pitching, which undid them in the first game with Conyers, will be of paramount importance. Castro, Davis, Bryant and Dalton Powell will be available for the first game and everybody would be available for the last.