Post 109 won League VI for the third time in five seasons and made a fourth appearance in the state championship tournament this week at Duncan Park Stadium. Gaffney (22-6) was eliminated Friday by West Columbia, 17-13.

Osment took over at Gaffney High School last season and won the 4A state championship. His American Legion team was state runner-up in 2007 and represented South Carolina in the regional. He said the decision was to focus on and benefit the Gaffney High School players. The American Legion team also draws from Chesnee, Broome and Blacksburg.

“My guys don’t need to hear my voice constantly,” Osment said. “We don’t need to get burned out on each other. It will do them good to play for somebody else in the summer.”

Osment went 3-15 in his first American Legion season as head coach in 2000 and never finished worse than second place after that.

“I’ve been through a lot of lean years and a lot of good years,” Osment said. “It was a tough decision, for sure. I’m definitely going to be around to help in some way. We built the program up and I think we have one in the best in the state now. I just want to see it sustained.”