Cabot riding hot streak into Legion regional

Life is good for the Cabot Senior American Legion baseball team, but there’s a chance things could be even better by the end of the week.

After winning their first state championship, the RailCats headed to Hastings, Neb., early Tuesday morning in preparation for today’s game against Gretna, Neb., in the opening round of the American Legion Regional Tournament.

There are eight regions set up for the 64-team, double-elimination event, which will run through Sunday. State titlists, regional hosts and runners-up from the states that have the most senior Legion teams are all taking part in the field, with the eight winners advancing to Shelby, N.C., for the American Legion World Series on Aug. 12-17.

For Cabot, there’s no reason to look that far ahead. A methodical game-by-game approach worked in the RailCats’ favor during their state title run, so Coach Cody Perrin said he sees no reason to ditch that method now.

“Things are going great, and our guys really seem excited,” Perrin said. “Now they don’t seem overly excited to the point where they’re going to be in awe of everything. They realize there’s a big opportunity here.

“We were able to get everybody available to go with us. So it should be a good showing for us, I hope.”

The RailCats showed quite a bit during the state tournament in Conway, when they battled their way out of the loser’s bracket. Cabot was forced to win four consecutive elimination games before run-ruling Russellville — the team that initially sent the RailCats to the loser’s bracket — in the championship final.

That victory was an emotional one for Perrin. He wasn’t excessive in his celebration, but the quiver in his voice and the welling of tears in his eyes were evident when he spoke after he and his team received the winner’s trophy.

On Tuesday during Cabot’s 101/2-hour bus ride to Hastings, Perrin explained just how much the RailCats’ 17-1 rout of Russellville really meant to him.

“Personally, I know what these guys do day in and day out,” he said. “We’ve always said as coaches that they’re going to be rewarded for that some day. Of course, you never know when that day is going to come. But I feel like right now, it’s happening.

“This is one of biggest accomplishments for me as a coach, and I’m just happy to honestly be along for the ride. I’m trying to do my best to stay out of their way and let them just go out and play.”

Although the RailCats don’t know much about the team they’re facing today, there are some similarities between the two. Gretna, like Cabot, nabbed a state crown after being sent to the loser’s bracket. The Dragons won three games in a row to capture their division, then pulled away in the deciding matchup of their three-game championship series against Fremont.

Perrin said he does know that Gretna is aggressive on the bases so defensive awareness will be key for Cabot. But he said he also feels that the RailCats have to continue to play with the same confidence in all aspects just as they did seven days ago.

“We’ve got to keep swinging the bats, too, for sure,” said Perrin, who watched his team bang out 17 hits in the decider against Russellville. “Throw the long strikes, challenge their hitters and play good defense like we’ve been doing. The guys appear to be locked in, so I think we’ll be OK.”