Portland Post 158 rallies for 16-10 win over Lincoln Post 500.
In late July, Oregon American Legion Baseball state tournament officials honored Portland (Ore.) Post 105’s 1969 American Legion World Series championship team.
It remains that state’s lone ALWS champion.
But Portland (Ore.) Post 158 kept their chance alive to join them on Sunday evening by outlasting Lincoln (Neb.) Post 500, 16-10, for a berth in Monday’s semifinals.
“We honored them because we knew it was a special year for Legion Baseball,” Post 158 head coach Joe Duran said.
The Barbers have a chance to make it more special for themselves and Oregon as the Stars Division runner-up will meet the Stripes Division champion on Monday at 4 p.m.
League City (Tex.) Post 554, which get the Stars Division No. 1 seed by virtue of a 7-6 win over Portland on Friday, will meet the Stripes Division runner-up on Monday at 7 p.m.
Monday’s winners play on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the 2025 ALWS championship game.
“We’re not satisfied,” Duran said. “We’ll be looking to do what we talk about all the time tomorrow and that’s to win the day.”
In Sunday’s victory, Portland scored four runs in the top of the first inning to take charge of the contest early.
But Lincoln used two Post 158 fielding errors to score five unearned runs in the fourth inning and take a 7-5 lead.
Post 158 knotted the score at 7 with a two-run fifth and tacked on six more runs in the top of the sixth, highlighted by Carter Stewart's grand slam.
Lincoln then took advantage of three walks, a hit batter and a fielding error in a three-run sixth to cut the advantage to 13-10 before Post 158’s three-run seventh closed the scoring.
“Our lineup is tough to get out 1 through 9; that’s all there is to it,” Duran said of his offense that had 13 hits and drew 10 walks and two hit batters. “We never lose confidence. We always have a belief that if we have one out left, we have a chance.
“This is a special, special group.”
Griffin Scott (3 hits, 2 home runs, 2 RBIs), Joe Fagan (2 hits, double) and Stewart (home run, 5 RBIs) led Portland.
For Lincoln, Dele Odulate (3 hits, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs) and Bradyn Erickson (2 hits, 2 RBIs) were leaders of an offense that had eight hits and drew five walks and three hit batters.
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