North Carolina rolls into title game

The crowd favorites continued their roll in Shelby.

Rowan County, N.C., Post 342 made it three straight American Legion World Series wins, rolling past San Mateo, Calif., Post 82 13-4 Monday in the series semifinals. Rowan County lost its tournament opener but has been on fire ever since, outscoring its opponents 30-6 and thrilling a partisan crowd.

The win puts Rowan County (41-13) in Tuesday’s national championship game, which will air live on ESPNU at 7 p.m.

“We’ve very confident right now,” said Post 342 third baseman Juan Garcia, who was 2-for-2 at the plate with three runs, three RBIs and a stolen base. “We’ve been putting up good numbers, and we’re definitely showing that we have an offense, (not just) a defense. That’s definitely the main thing right now.”

San Mateo was 3-0 in pool play and jumped on top 2-0 Monday before Rowan County scored eight runs over the next three innings to seize control. Five different Post 342 players had two or more hits, and six different players scored.

San Mateo (35-6) came out swinging, and connecting, in the bottom of the first. Tyler Villaroman started with a single and moved around to third on Angelo Bortolin’s single. Ramon Enriquez and Kaleb Keelean followed with consecutive singles to plate both Villaroman and Bortolin to open up a 2-0 lead.

But the lead didn’t last long. In the top of the second Lee Poteat walked and Juan Garcia walked. Jake Pritchard walked one batter later, and Trevor Atwood brought Poteat home after being hit by a pitch. Tanner File then brought Garcia home on a fielder’s choice to tie the game.

“I think the key was us coming back with two runs to tie it up,” Rowan County coach Jim Gantt said. “I think that was big for us.”

Rowan County was right back at it in the top of the third, bringing 10 batters to the plate while scoring four runs on five hits and three hit batters. Garcia and Pritchard each had RBIs during the rally, while Dalton Lankford scored on a wild pitch and Brandon Walton on an error.

Bortolin doubled home Villaroman in the bottom of the third to bring San Mateo within 6-3, but Post 342 came back with two more runs in the top of the fourth. Hunter Shepherd led off with a double, Poteat bunted his way on and Garcia drove Shepherd home with a sacrifice fly.

Two batters later, Pritchard reached on a fielder’s choice to score Shepherd, pushing Rowan County’s advantage to 8-3.

A four-run sixth, keyed by Chandler Blackwelder’s two-run double, extended the margin to 12-3. Alex Pennes drew a walk to score Felix Aberouette, drawing San Mateo within 12-4. Rowan County tacked on a run in the top of the ninth when Poteat drove home Lankford with a single.

Rowan County pitcher Sawyer Strickland picked up the win, scattering 11 hits over 7.1 innings. He allowed just one earned run, walked one and didn’t hit a batter – something San Mateo did an ALWS-record seven times.

“That’s what he does,” Gantt said of Sawyer’s effort. “You’re going to put the ball in play with him. Sometimes ground balls find holes, and you just can’t worry about it too much because the next ground ball can be a double play. And he doesn’t get rattled.