CAYDEN BARKER
HS team (graduating year): Draughn 2027
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 1
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: It’s a tight group of guys. We’re like family.
What got you started in baseball: My older brother played baseball, so he got me into it. I started playing and I loved it.
LAINE BARRIER
HS team (graduating year): Patton 2026
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 1
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: Playing under Coach (Matt) Baker again.
What got you started in baseball: My dad and my friends. I’ve just always been involved in the game.
ZACH CARSON
HS team (graduating year): Freedom 2025
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 3
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: I’ve played with a lot of these guys for a couple of years, and I feel like we’ve got a good bond going, a good brotherhood. It’s just an overall good team.
What got you started in baseball: My dad. I watched him play over here at softball in the men’s league, and I just wanted to try it. There was also a Post 21 game going on over here, and I was about 8, so I came and watched it, and it just introduced me to the game.
BRADY DAVIS
HS team (graduating year): Patton 2026
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 2
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: Definitely the friendships that are being built and how we get along very well.
What got you started in baseball: Watching it on TV when I was younger, and I had a good friend group around me that I started playing travel ball with.
JACOB DAVIS
HS team (graduating year): McDowell 2025
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 2
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: Just the environment and friends. It’s like a family here.
What got you started in baseball: Watching my older brother play when I was young.
AARON DUNCAN
HS team (graduating year): Patton 2025
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 3
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: The bond we all have. We’ve all played against each other, and we all grew up playing city ball together.
What got you started in baseball: My dad got me started.
LANDRY DUVALL
HS team (graduating year): Patton 2028
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 2
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: I like the environment with all the guys. We all have a good time, and it’s a lot of fun.
What got you started in baseball: My dad and my grandpa.
RHETT HOUSTON
HS team (graduating year): East Burke 2026
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 1
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: It’s just fun. We come out here and compete and try to win as many games as we can.
What got you started in baseball: My dad coached. He loved the game of baseball, and he got me into it.
WYATT HULLETTE
HS team (graduating year): Patton 2026
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 2
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: Being able to play with people from different schools and being able to create friendships with them.
What got you started in baseball: The people I went to school with. I quit baseball at one point, then I got back into it because of the friend group I was in, and they motivated me to get better.
ZEB KOONE
HS team (graduating year): McDowell 2026
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 2
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: I like how we all get along and we all want to be here.
What got you started in baseball: My dad. He played baseball growing up and he played in college, and he just kind of got me into it when I was young.
CANNON MORRISON
HS team (graduating year): East Burke 2025
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 1
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: The brothership we have here. We’re all really close this year, and I think we have a chance to be pretty good.
What got you started in baseball: It’s kind of like a family thing. My dad played a little bit of college ball, and growing up I just always played baseball, football, and basketball.
MADDOX MOSTELLER
HS team (graduating year): East Burke 2028
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 2
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: The other teams are good competition, and I enjoy getting to know everybody on this team.
What got you started in baseball: My dad wanted me to play. He played through high school.
MASON MOSTELLER
HS team (graduating year): East Burke 2025
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 2
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: Mainly the guys. We’ve got a good family here, we all kind of know each other, and Coach (Matt) Baker is a good guy.
What got you started in baseball: My dad taking me out there in the field, teaching me how to pitch and play the field. I really fell in love with it.
AUSTIN REYNOLDS
HS team (graduating year): East Burke 2025
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 2
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: Meeting new people is my favorite part.
What got you started in baseball: My dad. He wanted me to play football, but my mom said it was too dangerous, so they got me into baseball, said it was a little bit easier, and I just fell in love with it.
KYLE SELF
HS team (graduating year): Freedom 2025
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 1
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: Just the coaching staff and the guys on this team, they’re really great.
What got you started in baseball: I always wanted to play college baseball, and I’m going to next year. Coach (Matt) Baker and the coaching staff helped me out with that.
BARGER SHOOK
HS team (graduating year): East Burke 2025
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 1
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: I get to hang around all my friends that I’ve been friends with since I was little. Most of them I’ve known for 10-plus years.
What got you started in baseball: Mainly my family. My parents got me into it when I was young, and my love for the game has just grown from there.
BROOKS SNIPES
HS team (graduating year): Freedom 2027
No. of years with Post 21’s senior team: 1
Favorite thing about playing for Post 21: I like how efficiently practices are run.
What got you started in baseball: My father helped a lot when I was younger.
MATT BAKER
Role: Head Coach (is also the head coach at Patton)
Favorite thing about coaching for Post 21: It’s just a lot of fun getting to pull kids from different schools. Obviously, I enjoy having my Patton kids, but it’s an opportunity to see different kids from around the county and from McDowell. Getting to see them all come together and build those relationships is a lot of fun.
What got you started in baseball: My dad always loved baseball, so at a young age he got me into it, and I’ve just been involved ever since then.
JONATHAN BROWNING
Favorite thing about coaching for Post 21: Seeing the kids come from all the different schools and how they bond with each other, turn into a family, and have that camaraderie over the course of the season.
What got you started in baseball: When I was a kid, we played whatever sport was in season, so when baseball season rolled around, we played baseball. I continued with baseball and football through high school, and when my first coaching opportunity came along, it was being a baseball coach, so I just kind of carried it through from there
TONY GRADY
Favorite thing about coaching for Post 21: The kids. Just seeing four or five different high schools that are enemies during the regular season come together and make one team. The camaraderie of the bunch is a lot of fun.
What got you started in baseball: My dad. I was 5, and he wouldn’t let me play a whole lot because I was small, then I talked him into letting me pitch. I could throw strikes, and I pitched from there on out.
NOTE: Patton 2026 graduate Cohen Christian, a second-year member of the Burke County Post 21 American Legion baseball team, was not present when interviews were conducted.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.