ALWS Game 3: Idaho opens title defense with a win

The last time Idaho Falls, Id., played an American Legion World Series game, the Buffalo Wild Wings Cafe in Idaho Falls was packed at 8 a.m. local time to see Post 56 win the 2019 ALWS championship in a game that was resumed at 10 a.m., local time in Shelby, N.C.

Merit Jones was among those in attendance at the local restaurant.

On Thursday, as Idaho Falls began its title defense, Jones was on the pitcher's mound and fired a two-hitter with six strikeouts as Post 56 defeated Midland (Mich.) Berryhill Post 165, 3-2 at Keeter Stadium at Veterans Field.

"All year long, we've wanted to make it to Shelby," said Jones, who has an unbeaten pitching record for Idaho Falls High School and Post 56 as a pitcher this spring and summer. "We want to repeat that (2019) experience and defend it."

Jones got the help of his teammates' early offense and game-winning response to a Midland rally to win the third game of the opening day of the 2021 ALWS.

"Game One is a kind of a settling game," Idaho Falls coach Ryan Alexander said. "We just had to come out and settle down. It was good to get the early two runs. That's a heckuva team we played. But all these teams are good teams."

Mack Jephson doubled and scored on a throwing error in the first inning and Nate Rose singled and scored on Jephson's RBI groundout for a 2-0 Idaho Falls lead after three innings.

Midland tied the score in the top of the fifth inning on Al Money's RBI single and a wild pitch, but Idaho Falls scored the game-winning run on Eliot Jones' RBI double in the bottom of the inning.

Merit Jones closed the game with a flourish after yielding the two runs in the fifth; he retired seven of the last nine batters he faced, including the last four in a row.

"He was effective," Midland coach Dan Cronkright said of Merit Jones. "He threw his breaking ball for a strike. But at the same time, I think we were pressing an awful lot."

In addition to the momentum from the 2019 ALWS, Idaho Falls "won" for a second straight day; Post 56 was the fans’ choice as the winner of a impromptu dance-off on Wednesday night in uptown Shelby during the "Host City Welcome" festivities.

"It was kind of on a whim," Alexander said of the contest. "The (Dubuque County) Iowa team came over and they kind of had a dance off. One of them did a back flip. It was awesome - and the fans were great."

Midland, which is making its seventh ALWS appearance in Shelby (and 10th overall), now has to bounce back if it hopes to advance to Monday's semifinals.

"If we play the way we should play, we'll be just fine," Cronkright said.