CHAMPAIGN — Baseball is a sport notorious for delays and postponements, and it’s pretty understandable considering so many aspects of the game are dependent on the weather.

Playing their games in June and July, the Danville Post 210 Speakers are no strangers to having outside influences dictate their games. But the possibility of a new type of postponement is being thrown at the Speakers in their first round Division Four tournament game, scheduled to be played tonight in Champaign against Lincoln Post 236.

Despite winning its district tournament, Lincoln’s advancement into division play is being held up because of the use of potentially illegal players. The legality of the players in question concerns the timeliness of appropriate documents being submitted on deadline.

With representatives from the American Legion national office discussing the matter in Lincoln, a decision is expected by 2 p.m. today. If no decision is reached, the Speakers’ first game will be postponed until Wednesday.

But Danville is doing its best to not be distracted by the issue, and it is looking forward to beginning its quest for Post 210’s first Division title since 2007.

“We’re preparing like we’re going to play Lincoln tomorrow at 7:15 p.m., and until we hear different, we’re not going to change anything,” Speakers coach Adam Decker said. “But if we do get delayed a couple of days, I think it helps us, actually.”

The extra rest would give players like pitcher Blake Janesky (who threw 100 pitches in Danville’s District 18 championship game win), an extra day of rest, and strengthen the Speakers’ arsenal in their bid for a trip to the state tournament.

Like the rest of the team, today’s projected starter, Casey Fletcher, is pretty familiar with Lincoln Post 236. The two teams met on June 11 in Danville’s Lethal Lumber tournament where Fletcher seemingly had his way with the Lincoln lineup.

The Speakers made quick work of Post 236 in an 8-0, five-inning mercy rule win. Fletcher, who holds a team-best 1.43 ERA, gave up no hits in the contest, and was one walk and one error away from throwing a perfect game.

With a combined team ERA sitting just over 2.00, the Speakers are entering the Division Four tournament with the confidence of a team primed to win. And much of the confidence comes from having a solid pitching staff alongside an offense that has rarely disappointed through 40 games.

“I think it’s been pretty consistent, but I think maybe they’re a little more focused because it’s the postseason,” Decker said of the team’s offense. “Guys know the end is near whether we are on top or we are eliminated. We’re closing in on the end of the season here and guys are focusing in a little more at the plate.

“Zane Dillon has just been on fire since Cincinnati. I think he has five home runs now, and that tear started in Cincinnati.”

In the month of July, Dillon has had 23 hits and driven in 13 runs in 12 games. But it’s not just the former Schlarman Hilltopper giving opposing pitchers fits.

Decker credited the impressive showing at the Cincinnati Storm Club Tournament on the July 4th weekend as a point in the season when his team really started to come together.

Since their undefeated performance in Cincinnati, the Speakers have dropped only two games, and have made it difficult for opposing teams to single in on one guy. The production has been consistent throughout a lineup that has averaged over 10 hits a game during the stretch, including 13 homers.

“I feel really good when we are up at the plate,” said Decker, who has drawn comparisons of this year’s team to his 2007 squad which finished third in the state tournament. “I never feel like we are out of a game, especially a close game, because I feel like we can get right back in it with one swing of the bat.

“Sometimes you have teams that you don’t feel that way. You feel like you’re going to have to manufacture some runs. I’m not opposed to manufacturing runs, but I just feel like I don’t have to do as much. I can leave it up to our bats, rather than trying to scratch one across.”

The Speakers have proven, though, that they can win in any type of game, and have done as much so far in the postseason.

In the District 18 opener, Danville defeated Toledo 29-5, before using a late comeback effort in a 5-3 win over Kansas. And once again facing Kansas in the tournament’s championship, the Speakers went 10 innings and showed their patience at the plate when Fletcher drew a bases-loaded, six-pitch walk to score the winning run.

Regardless of how they do it, Decker just wants to see his team continue crossing the plate.

“You’ve got to keep scoring,” Decker said. “That 2007 team got to the state tournament because they kept scoring. We were in Litchfield in the Division, and it was just hot. People would put up runs. We were out of pitching, but we would just keep scoring. We just flat out outscored people.

“This year, I think we are similar to that. The only difference is our pitching staff. If you can keep scoring runs, your pitchers are going to give you a chance to win.”

Tonight’s game is scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m. Danville will then go on to play either the winner or loser of tonight’s first game between host Champaign and Mattoon.