The more I’ve watched the Austin Post 91 Legion baseball team, the more I’m impressed.

It’s hard to believe this is mostly the same group of kids who did not beat any of the Rochester schools during the high school season.

But with the exception of Duell Higbe, Sam Stier, Jordan Hall, and Nate Wilson, it is the same bunch. This team has beaten Rochester teams four times over the summer, when they weren’t able to make a game out of their contests with John Marshall, Century, and Mayo in the spring.

I can’t tell if its the change of uniforms or the nicer weather, but this group of Austin kids look like a different team and are a lot more confident.

Pitcher John Kirby has overcome some struggles with control and has avoided walks as of late, Mark Harber has turned into a hitting machine, and Andrew Orcutt has been a prototypical leadoff hitter.

Granted these guys did do things right in the spring as well, but not to this extent.

While there record hovers around .500 at 11-9 heading into a first round playoff game against Waseca Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Marcusen Park, I think this team has enough big wins under its belt to feel good about the upcoming postseason.

The highlight of Post 91’s run came last Wednesday, when they just about swept the Rochester Redhawks, who are composed of players from Mayo.

After gutting out a 3-2 win in the first game, Post 91 fell behind 5-0 in the first inning of the second game.

I’ll admit I was thinking Austin was satisfied with a split and was Mayo wasn’t gonna give them a chance to take two. But something funny happened in sixth inning when Post 91 rattled off seven runs to take an 11-9 lead.

Although that lead didn’t last in a 15-11 loss, I think this Austin team — which played without Higbe against the Redhawks — can look back on that comeback the next time they trail in a game early.

And if they do find themselves in an early deficit this postseason, I don’t think I’ll be counting them out.