ALWS Day 4: South Carolina, New Jersey rally to advance
Chapin-Newberry Post 193's Corey Stone pitched 4.2 innings of relief, allowing just one earned run, to get the win. (Photo by Clay Lomneth)

ALWS Day 4: South Carolina, New Jersey rally to advance

Chapin-Newberry (S.C.) Post 193 hadn’t lost a game all season before it’s 5-2 loss to Retif Oil (New Orleans) on Day 3 of The American Legion World Series (ALWS). But after seven innings Sunday, the team was on the verge of losing two and a row – and heading home from Shelby, N.C.

Post 193 trailed Cromwell (Conn.) Post 105 6-1 heading into the top of the eighth of Game 10 but rallied for a7-6 win that pushed the team to 2-1 in pool play. That win, Midland (Mich.) Post 165’s loss to Retif Oil later Sunday night, clinched a spot for Post 193 in today’s 4 p.m. semifinal game. Both semifinal games will be broadcast on ESPNU.

Post 193 Coach Daniel Gregory said his staff’s plan to try to relax his team after it’s Day 3 loss may have initially backfired. “We may have been too loose,” he said. “When we got here we were in really good spirits … but when things started not to go well for us early, maybe the ‘here we go again’ might have crept in.

“But one thing they never stopped doing was fighting and having fun. At no point was it ever … pointed fingers. It was always trying to get your teammate up, do it for the next guy.”

Kevin Burton hit a 3-run double in the top of the eighth inning, and Landon Allison followed with a single that scored Burton.

“I was just keeping the same approach: try to hit a single,” said Burton, who’s hitting .419 in regional and ALWS play. “It was amazing. Everybody thought we were going to lose. We just kept going, kept fighting.”

Post 193 had trailed 6-0 after four innings and 6-1 entering the eighth. Post 193’s comeback tied the ALWS record for the biggest ever and moved the team to 30-1 overall and 2-1 in pool play.

Cromwell led 1-0 after the first inning, 4-0 after the third and 6-0 after an Austin White RBI and Chris Bouchard came home on a passed ball. But in the eighth, four Post 193 singles and a walk scored two runs while loading the bases with one out.

Burton followed with a deep shot to the wall that tied the game, and Allison’s single brought Burton all the way home from second.

Corey Stone pitched 4.2 innings of relief, allowing just one earned run, to get the win. Josh Haney added a scoreless inning of relief, and Patrick Yoder got the final three outs for the save.

White finished 2-5 with two RBIs for Cromwell, while Cory Baldwin was 2-4 and scored twice. Cromwell finished 0-3 in pool play and 37-7 overall.

Game 11: Brooklawn (N.J.) Post 72 3, Waipahu (Hawaii) Post 35 2, 11 innings. Fran Kinsey singled home Alex Krug in the bottom of the 11th inning to cap a late-game rally and push Brooklawn past Waipahu the final game of pool play for both teams.

The win gave Brooklawn (46-6) a 2-1 record in its pool and a berth in Monday’s 7:30 p.m. semifinal game against Retif Oil (New Orleans). The two-time defending champs trailed 2-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth but rallied to tie the game on a triple from Ray Taylor that scored Kinsey, and then on a wild pitch that brought Taylor home.

The win was the second straight in pool play for Brooklawn since a 3-2 opening loss to Medford (Ore.) Post 15.

“I honestly think that our experience has been the key,” Kinsey said. “You lose a hard-fought game the first game to Oregon. A team that hasn’t been here before and sees their back against the wall maybe folds. We’ve had the experience … and we knew that if we came and won the next two we were going to have a good shot of advancing.”

In the 11th, Krug bunted his way on base, moved over to second on a fielder’s choice and then came home when Kinsey hit a shot that bounced off the glove of diving Waipahu shortstop Tyler Yamaguchi and trickled into the outfield.

“You’ve got to be lucky to win (the ALWS), and we’ve been lucky to win it twice,” Brooklawn Manager Dennis Barth said. “Every time we play Hawaii it’s an awesome game. But these guys, they’re down 2-0 and they don’t blink.”

Waipahu (31-3, 1-2 in pool play) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when two errors set up Brandon Henderson’s two-run double.

But after that, Brooklawn pitcher Lucas Rollins shut down Waipahu. He went all 11 innings, allowing just six hits.

“Lucas pitched his butt off today,” Kinsey said.

Waipahu starter Dylan Sugimoto allowed two earned runs over 8.1 innings.

Game 12: Retif Oil (New Orleans) 2, Midland (Mich.) Post 165 1. Retif Oil rode the pitching of Davis Martin and flawless defense to edge Midland and win the “Stripes” pool with a perfect 3-0 record. Retif will face Brooklawn (N.J.) Post 72 at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

Retif Oil (34-7) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of fifth inning on a walk, a pair of singles and two Midland errors. Harrison Daste and Nicholas Ray each scored for Retif during the rally; both came home on errors.

Midland (47-8, 1-2 pool play) came back with a run in the top of the sixth. Carson Eby singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, and then came home on back-to-back singles – the latter an RBI from Jordan Dopp.

But that was all that Martin allowed. He went the distance, scattering six hits and letting his defense do the rest. Refit didn’t commit an error behind him.

Midland starter Alex Sova pitched a solid game, allowing five hits and an earned run over 6.1 innings.

Military, veterans honored. Sunday was Military Appreciation Day at Keeter Stadium and was sponsored by USAA. Hundreds of veterans and active-duty military personnel from all five branches of the military were honored Sunday afternoon before Game 12. They also received commemorative hats and coins when they entered the stadium. The Special Forces Association Parachute Team delivered the game ball for Game 11. And before Game 12, Medal of Honor recipient Michael Fitzmaurice was honored on the field.