Omaha Post 1 won against Kennewick, Wash., 14-5; Cumberland Post 86/14 won against Leesburg, Va., 9-2.
Omaha, Neb., Post 1 shortstop Zach Luckey blistered Central Plains Regional pitching, batting over .600 while driving in seven runs. A four-day layoff between the regional and The American Legion World Series did little to cool him off.
Luckey went 3-6 at the plate Thursday, hitting three doubles, driving in four runs and scoring twice in leading Post 1 past Kennewick, Wash., Post 34 14-5. Post 1 pounded out 15 hits and has outscored its past five opponents 60-11.
Luckey was quick to deflect any personal credit to his teammates. “Our team is always so locked in that if I don’t get hot the first (at-bat) first two (at-bats), I know my teammates are going to pick me up,” he said. “We all want this more than anything in the world. Everyone here is more determined than I’ve ever seen any ball club I’ve ever played with.”
It didn’t take long for Post 1 (59-3) to strike. In the first inning, Jason Allbery doubled home Brandon Bena, and one inning Luckey’s double scored Craig Petrich and Lucas Ripa.
Allbery reached on an error to start the third and then came all the way around to score on John Hawk’s single, pushing the lead to 4-0. And in the fourth, Luckey led off with a double, moved to third on Brett Vosik’s bunt and then scored on a passed ball.
Kennewick (54-15) came back with runs in the in the fifth and sixth to close the gap. In the fifth, Blake Loftus reached on a fielder’s choice, moved to second on Trent Sellers single and then scored on an error. And in the sixth, Josh Kutzke led off with a double and came home on an error to cut the lead to 5-2.
But Omaha’s bats came alive in the top of the seventh. Jonnie Hawk led off with a shot over the left-field fence for the first home run of the World Series. Bobby Morgensen followed with a double, and Ripa and Evan Bergman both walked to load the bases with one out.
Luckey then doubled down the third-base line, scoring Morgensen and Ripa. Vosik’s double scored Bergman, and Luckey came home on a wild pitch. Vosik eventually scored on Allbery’s sacrifice fly, giving Post 1 an 11-2 lead.
Dillon Plew, Andrew Vargas and Garrett Dixon had RBI singles in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to six runs. But Ripa added a two-run home run and Vosick an RBI single to cap the scoring for Post 1.
John Sakowski (2-0) got the win, scattering 10 hits and three earned runs over six innings.
Cumberland 9, Virginia 2. Cumberland, R.I., Post 86/14 started fast and stayed in control the entire way, topping Leesburg, Va., Post 34 9-2 in Thursday’s finale.
Cumberland (34-4) opened the bottom of the first with three straight singles, taking a 1-0 lead on Tyler Walsh’s RBI. After two outs, Jason Doris reached on an error and Jake Petrin followed with an RBI single, loading the bases.
Drew Szafranski and Nate Donovan drew back-to-back walks, bringing home runs. Josh Brodeur’s ensuing two-run single pushed Cumberland’s lead to 6-0.
Leesburg (20-9) came back with two runs in the top of the second on RBIs from Jake Cunningham and Matt Eberhart. But Cumberland tacked on runs in the third and fourth innings on Donovan's RBIs to extend the lead. Brodeur’s walk with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth brought home Petrin and capped the scoring.
Chris Wright (2-0) struck out eight and allowed one earned run in 5.1 innings of work to get the win.
- Baseball