South Carolina saves its best for last

There was no magical comeback for the never-say-die team from South Carolina. Tuesday night, they didn’t need it.

Chapin-Newberry (S.C.) Post 193, which had rallied to win three games in the eighth inning or later before Tuesday night, took the lead early and used two big innings to push past Retif Oil (New Orleans), 9-2, and win the 2015 American Legion World Series (ALWS) championship at Keeter Stadium in Shelby, N.C.

Post 193 (32-1) led 2-1 after the first inning and used a three-run sixth and four-run eighth to break open the game in an ALWS that featured a record 11 one-run games. Peyton Spangler, Justin Hawkins and Kevin Burton each had two RBIs for Chapin-Newberry, while eight different players scored for the winners. Post 193 also totaled 12 hits from nine different players.

“That’s the way we normally hit the ball,” said Post 193 center fielder Danton Hyman, who scored twice, drove in a run and played flawless defense in the outfield. “We’ve been talking about how we’ve got to come out sometime sooner or later hitting the ball like we did. When we were hitting the ball in that first inning, I knew it was going to be a good day for us.”

Leading the entire game at the ALWS was not the norm for Chapin-Newberry, but that didn’t make things any easier for Coach Daniel Gregory. “Even up more than two or three runs for the first time in a long time, you still pace the dugout because baseball is a crazy game and (New Orleans is) a really good baseball team over there,” he said. “So until the last out is made, you can’t relax.”

Chapin-Newberry, South Carolina’s first ALWS champ since 1936, got its crowd going immediately. Hyman led off the top of the first inning with a single and took second on a sacrifice by Spangler.

That set up Hawkins to deliver his third home run in as many games. The shot easily cleared the leftfield fence and gave Post 193 a 2-0 lead.

“He’s a momentum-swing guy,” Gregory said of Hawkins. “If you get him out, your team gets to cheer really loudly. But a lot of times for us, he makes our crowd cheer loudly. Fortunately for us, the momentum happened early and we were able to carry it.”

Hawkins, who was voted The American Legion Player of the Year, downplayed his late-series surge. “It’s baseball,” he said. “A lot of this is just a coincidence. You play in a game, and you take what it gives you. It just happened to be the three times there in three games that a pitcher has made a mistake and I’ve capitalized on that. And after that, the team just started getting in a groove … and hitting the baseball all over the place.”

Retif Oil came within a run in the bottom half of the inning. Nicholas Ray singled to start the inning and moved to second on a groundout. Ben Hess then delivered a single that brought Ray around from second to close the gap to 2-1.

Neither team could mount a serious offensive threat for the next four innings, but in the top of the fifth Chapin-Newberry broke through with a three-run rally to open up a 5-1 advantage.

Burton started off with a single; Landon Allison followed an out with another single. Brad Smith then singled Burton home. A walk loaded the bases, and Zach Ziesing then drew a base on balls that plated Allison. Spangler was then hit by a pitch that brought home Smith.

Retif came right back in its half of the sixth when Alexander Galy walked, took second on a balk and then scored on Jake Licciardi’s single.

But two innings later Chapin-Newberry broke through again. Duncan Crotwell tripled to start the inning, and Ziesing walked. Hyman bunted and reached safely on a fielder’s choice, scoring Crotwell. An error on the play moved Hyman and Ziesing to second and third.

Spangler’s single scored Ziesing, and Burton then delivered a two-run single that scored Hyman and Spangler and gave Chapin-Newberry a 9-2 lead with an inning and a half to play.

Ryne Huggins came on in relief for Chapin-Newberry and got the win. He pitched the final 4.1 innings, allowing two hits and one earned run while striking out five. Tristan Smaltz went the first 4.1 innings and allowed just one earned run.

“What I hope doesn’t get lost in this is the job Tristan Smaltz did for us on the mound,” Gregory said. “We told him going in, ‘If you’ll give us four or five innings and put us in a position past that, that’s all we’re going to ask of you tonight.’ Instead of letting his pride get the best of him – which none of these kids do – he accepted that role. And to be able to hand it over to somebody like Ryne Huggins is pretty special.”

Chapin-Newberry led the ALWS field in fielding percentage and didn’t commit an error Tuesday. “(The defense) has been pretty phenomenal,” Newberry said. “It was so phenomenal every time to see these kids lay it on the line and want to make a play for their teammates. That’s what was so special: They wanted to do not for themselves, but for their team and the people sitting in the stands watching them.”

That kind of performance made things easier for Huggins. “You can just know you can put it over the plate and they’re going to make a play,” he said. “It’s so much easier to pitch like that than if you have to try to strike everybody out.”

Retif Oil finished 35-8, and outfielder Ben Hess was named the James Daniels Sportsmanship Award recipient.

“It’s kind of hard to put into words how proud I am of this group,” Retif Oil Manager Joseph Latino said. “We started off the summer 1-4, and things weren’t looking to good. We just kept telling them, ‘It’s a process, it’s a process. Just stay committed, stay dedicated to the hard work.’ They did exactly that, and for them to end up here playing tonight on this great stage against a great ball club says everything you need to know about that group of players in there.”

Hyman, his team’s emotional leader, praised New Orleans, calling it a “great ball team. We knew we were going to have to bring our A game to play. We came out here today and we got it done."

"Ever since I was 3 years old, my dad and I – we played ball together (and he’s been my coach) – and our dream is to … enjoy this moment with the coaches and the players. The experience is something I’ve dreamed of, and it’s now come true.”

Attendance record smashed: A single-session crowd of more than 8,200 fans Tuesday night broke the previous record, while 117,072 fans witnessed the entire tournament - breaking the previous mark by more than 7,000.