Post 77 started the 2010 American Legion Georgia state playoffs with a bang as both Rockdale and Conyers picked up 10-run victories in Loganville on Friday.
 Sixth seeded Rockdale picked up the first Post 77 victory of the opening round with a 17-7 win over Canton Post 45.
 Conyers, the 2009 state champions, began their title defense on a strong note, defeating Blairsville Post 121 22-10 in eight innings.
 Conyers jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and tacked on three more runs in the second. They used three pitchers in the first five innings, and went up 12-2 before Jimmy Gerrard took the mound in the fifth inning.
 In the sixth inning, Conyers, which has been plagued by defensive lapses throughout the season, committed two errors and Blairsville quickly made a game of it.
 Blairsville brought the deficit to 12-10 before Conyers Coach Eddie Bagwell brought Ryan Conner out of the bullpen.
 "He just shut them down out of the bullpen," Bagwell said. "That was the key to the game."
 Conner came in with one out, picked up a strikeout and kept Blairsville on the board the rest of the game.
 "He came in, slammed the door and got us out of it," Bagwell said. "He did a great job. I was really pleased with him."
 Both Conyers and Rockdale advanced in the winners bracket of the double-elimination tournament on Sunday. Rockdale will face the winners of top-seeded Douglasville and Alpharetta at 10 a.m. and Conyers will matchup against the winner of second-seeded Albany and Loganville at 1 p.m.
 Bagwell said his team will need to continue what they did with the bats in the first round, but will need improvement over their defense for a chance at a repeat.
 "Somehow we have to do a better job of taking care of the ball," Bagwell said. "We have to figure out somehow to play better defense."
 Conyers heads into the second round knowing they have been there before with several experienced players from last year's team that defeated Douglassville in the championship game.
 Pitchers such as Kelvan Diaz and Beau and Brandon Thomas have all been there before, with Diaz, Friday's starter, making his third trip to the state playoffs.
 "Experience is always huge," Bagwell said. "If you have players that have experienced it before who know how to deal with the pressure of it, that's always big at the end of the day.
"We've got guys on this team that have experienced that kind of pressure before."
 Not only have players from Conyers and Rockdale competed in the American Legion playoffs last year, but Bagwell said he will also take from experience from high school playoff games.
 "If you look at the Alcovy, Heritage and Salem guys , this isn't the first time they've been involved in state playoff type atmosphere," Bagwell said. "We've got to take advantage of that.
 "We feel like the experience is huge, knowing what to expect."
 Conyers will need that experience as the competition becomes tougher.
 They will look to stay in the winners bracket and face either Douglasville or Rockdale in the winner's bracket. Bagwell said both teams pose the biggest threat of winning the Georgia title and unseating Rockdale as state champions.
 "There's a good chance," Bagwell said. "I still think at the end of the day Rockdale and Douglasville are the two best teams."