ALWS Day 3: Medford clinches semifinal spot
Brooklawn (N.J.) Post 72 beat Omaha (Neb.) Fifty-Two's Patriots during Game 9 of The American Legion World Series. (Photo by Clay Lomneth)

ALWS Day 3: Medford clinches semifinal spot

Pitching, defense and timely hitting have become trademarks for Medford (Ore.) Post 15 during The American Legion World Series, and that didn’t change on Day 3. Medford came through in all three areas to down 2 Waipahu (Hawaii) Post 35 2-1 and improve to 44-13 overall and 3-0 in pool play. With the win, Medford clinched one of the No. 1 seeds in Monday’s semifinals.

Medford’s Steen Frederickson singled with one out in the ninth, moved to third on a Cole Carder single, and then moved to third on an intentional walk. Teammate Jared Evans’ fielder’s choice to shortstop brought Frederickson home with the winning run. All three Medford wins have been decided by one run.

“(Winning close games) is fun,” Frederickson said. “It keeps us going. (It) wouldn’t be bad to go out and step on a team and run away with it. But we’re just getting the job done. That’s what we do.”

Waipahu (31-2) held a1-0 lead through six innings, thanks to a first-inning RBI double from Keke Rios. But Medford pitcher Colton Westfall kept Waipahu at bay after that, allowing five hits and striking out nine over the first 6.1 innings.

Aaron Hutchinson pitched a scoreless inning of relief, and Micah Brown got the final five outs – two one strikeouts – to pick up the win.

Medford tied the game in the seventh when Carder drove home Eric Carlson. Frederickson then led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to start the game-winning rally.

“I just needed to be a sparkplug, get something going,” Frederickson said. “I needed to get on base however I could.”

Tanner Atiburcio got the loss for Waipahu – which fell to 1-1 in pool play – pitching 8.2 innings and allowing both earned runs. He scattered eight hits and struck out six.

Since regional play, Medford’s pitching staff has an earned-run average of 1.44, striking out 71 batters in 75 innings.

“Our pitching’s been there all year,” Frederickson said. “Our staff is incredible.”

Game 8: Retif Oil (New Orleans) 5, Chapin-Newberry (S.C.) Post 193 2. Retif Oil jumped on top of Chapin-Newberry Post 193 early and held on for a 5-2 win to move to 33-7 overall and 2-0 in pool play. The game – which was the first loss of the season for Post 193 (29-1 overall, 1-1 in pool play) – featured a 58-minute lightning delay in the seventh inning.

Post 193 struck first when Danton Hyman bunted his way onto first, moved to second on a sacrifice and then took third on a wild pitch. Justin Hawkins then brought Hyman home on a groundout.

But Retif Oil took control from there, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first and two more in the second. Benjamin Hess drove in a run on a single and Scott Crabtree followed with a run-scoring double in the first.

In the second, Harrison Daste singled in a run, and Hess followed with another RBI three batters later. Retif would add another run in the bottom of the fifth on a Hayden Fuentes single.

That was all Retif pitcher Brandon Briuglio needed. After giving up the early run, he settled down over the next five innings, allowing just three base runners during that span. He wound up pitching seven innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs on 78 pitches.

“(Pitching with the lead) gave me a lot of confidence to go out and throw strikes and let my defense play like they played all year, which is really solid,” said Briuglio, who is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA since regional play. “Like always, we came out and swung the bat and (defense) gave me support.”

Post 193 rallied with a run in the top of the seventh to close to 5-2 on Zach Ziesing’s sacrifice fly and put two runners on in the top of the ninth before a fly ball ended the game.

Briuglio picked up the win for Retif Oil, allowing six hits and two earned runs over seven innings.

Game 9: Brooklawn (N.J.) Post 72 15, Omaha (Neb.) Fifty-Two's Patriots Post 374 1. Two-time defending champ Brooklawn back from its opening loss to route Post 374. The Brookers (45-6, 1-1 in the ALWS) banged out 16 hits and bolted to an 8-0 lead after two innings.

Sean Breen, the 2014 American Legion Player of the Year, hit a three-run home run in the third inning, and had three hits and scored three times overall. Isaiah Easterling added three RBIs and scored twice, while Ray Taylor crossed the plate four times. Six other Brooklawn players batted in runs

Brooklawn starter Joe Bobiak pitched the first four innings, allowing three hits and one earned run.

Omaha’s Calvin Rudolph was driven home by Garran Pauli in the third inning. Post 374 finished 0-3 in the ALWS and ended its year 41-20.

Dellinger honored. American Legion Past National Commander Daniel M. Dellinger was honored with a spot on The American Legion Leadership Hall of Fame Wall at Keeter Stadium prior to Saturday’s final game.

Military, veterans admitted free. Today is USAA Military Appreciation Day at The American Legion World Series. Veterans and military personnel will receive free admission.