Squads punch their tickets to American Legion World Series

2021 American Legion Baseball regionals: Day 5 Championship Sunday roundup

A repeat of the 2019 title game is possible as that year's American Legion World Series championship participants - defending champion Idaho Falls, Id., and runner-up Fargo, N.D., are among the eight teams that will play in the 2021 ALWS at Shelby's Keeter Stadium at Veterans Field.

Here's a look at how each of the eight regional titles was won on Sunday:

Region 1 - Northeast at Shrewsbury, Mass.

Brayden Clark's walk-off RBI double was the difference for Beverly, Mass., in a 6-5, 8-inning win over Newport, R.I., for the regional championship. Clark had started and gone 6 2-3 innings with a no decision. Lee Pacheco's three hits and two RBIs led the Beverly offense.

To advance to the final, Newport eliminated Hamburg, N.Y., 5-0 in another 8-inning game as Caleb Leys hit a three-run double in the top of the eighth to highlight a five-run inning. Leys also started and struck out 12 in 6 2-3 innings before Will Pierce

Beverly extends Massachusetts' streak of consecutive ALWS appearances to four; Shrewsbury went in 2017 and 2019 and Braintree in 2018.

Region 2 - Mid-Atlantic at Asheboro, N.C.

Ridge St. Mary's, Md., knocked off Fuquay-Varina, N.C., 8-1 as Allen Miller threw a four-hitter, Logan Brock had two hits and three RBIs and Demetri Jamison had two hits and two RBIs to win the regional championship game.

It's the first Maryland team to advance to the ALWS since Mt. Airy in 2009.

Region 3 - Southeast at Pelham, Ala.

Tupelo, Miss., rallied past Florence, S.C., 11-3 to take a second win in three games between the two teams to win the regional title. Florence had forced a winner-take-all 15th game of the regional with a 9-5 win earlier on Sunday.

Florence banged out 10 hits in Sunday's first game - getting two apiece from Kody Hanna, Noah Carter and Jacob Adams - and led 3-1 after four innings in the second game before Tupelo's offense and pitching of Davis Oswalt allowed Post 49 to advance to the ALWS.

Tupelo took the lead for good in a six-run fifth inning highlighted by Easton Hood's three-run double and Andin Johnson's two-run home run in back-to-back at-bats. Oswalt did the rest by finishing with a four-hitter with four strikeouts.

It's the first Mississippi team to advance to the ALWS since Tupelo did so in 2011.

Region 4 - Mid-South at Hastings, Neb.

Dubuque County, Iowa, won two games on Sunday to finish as regional champion.

Post 137 eliminated Washington, Mo., 11-4, in the completion of a suspended game from Saturday night, then defeated Cabot, Ark., 3-1 in the regional championship game.

In the first game, Tucker Nauman threw a nine-hitter with eight strikeouts and Landon Stoll had two hits and two RBIs and Michael Garrett had two hits and one RBI.

In the championship game, Aaron Savary threw a five-hitter with nine strikeouts and Jake Brosius and Gavin Guns had two hits apiece for Dubuque County.

It's the first Iowa team to advance to the ALWS since Dubuque County did so in 2018.

Region 5 - Great Lakes at Morgantown, W.Va.

Midland Berryhill, Mich., scored early and often to win 10-1 in the regional championship game over host Morgantown, W.Va.

Al Warner had three hits and two RBIs, Trent Johnson two hits and three RBIs, Al Money two hits and two RBIs and Griffin Clark two hits to lead the Midland offense and starter and winner Max Coughlin and reliever Blake Waibel combined on a three-hitter.

It's the eighth time Midland had advanced to the ALWS since 2008 - and its 10th trip all-time.

Region 6 - Central Plains at Sioux Falls, S.D.

Fargo, N.D., Post 400 led from start to finish in its 11-1, 6-inning regional championship win over Hopkins, Minn. Kobe Senn and Colten Alme had four hits apiece to lead Fargo's 19-hit offense and Alme threw a six-hitter and allowed a fourth-inning run after his team had built a 5-0 lead.

To advance to the title game, Hopkins eliminated DePere, Wis., 10-3 earlier on Sunday. Jake Perry had three hits and one RBI and starter and winner Jackson View went 6 2-3 innings for Hopkins.

Fargo is making its second straight ALWS appearance and was the 2019 runner-up.

Region 7 - Northwest at Gillette, Wyo.

The defending ALWS champion Idaho Falls Bandits completed an unbeaten run through the regional with a 9-3 championship victory over Helena, Mont.

Idaho Falls, which went 5-1 in the regionals during its 2019 title run, snapped a 2-all tie in the third inning and banged out 15 hits in its victory. Nate Rose, Jephson McGwire, Ayson Webb, R.J. Woods, Chandler Robinson and Davin Luce had two hits apiece for Post 56, which got five-hit pitching from starter and winner Rose.

It's the fourth straight time an Idaho team has advanced to the ALWS; Lewiston advanced in 2017, Meridian in 2018 and Idaho Falls in 2019.

Region 8 - Western at Fairfield, Calif.

Reliever Po'Opaa-Adao went four innings for the victory and Akiyama had two hits and two RBIs and Arecchi had two hits as Honolulu, Hawaii, defeated League City, Tex., 4-3 in the regional championship game.

It's the first Hawaiian team to advance to the ALWS since 2015.