Post 468 confident even while making state’s first American Legion World Series appearance since 2002.
When Nelson Madrid and his coaching staff took over the Greece (N.Y.) Post 468 team four years ago, they had high expectations.
That’s even as New York hadn’t even had an American Legion World Series qualifier since 2002 and only three others had made it as far as a regional title game in 2003, 2006 and 2013.
“Getting here was our expectation from the time that coach Cap (Jim Capellupo), coach (Jyles) Carley and coach (Todd) Grimes got started,” said Madrid, whose other assistant coach is Dan Bamann. “We were confident we could get here.”
On Aug. 10, Greece accomplished that mission with a 7-5 victory over Waterford (Conn.) that avenged a 4-0 loss in the Northeast Regional semifinals the day before.
Post 468 (24-6) had been knocking on the door in the staff’s first three seasons. Greece won back-to-back New York state titles in 2022 and 2023 and lost in the 2024 semifinals.
In the 2022 and 2023 Northeast Regionals, Greece finished third each time.
Behind 2025 state tournament MVP Derrick Allen and 2025 Northeast Regional MVP Tyler Cannon, Greece was able to advance to its first ALWS appearance.
“We were aware it’s been a long time since New York was here,” Madrid said. “But we felt good about our team.”
Allen hit a home run that sparked a three-run sixth-inning in a 6-5 victory over Hamburg Post 527 in the New York State tournament at Rochester on July 30.
Then in the regionals, Allen had five hits and five RBIs and Cannon had six hits and two RBIs as Greece won four of its five games.
In the “winner take all” title game against Waterford, reliever and winner Jack Kelly (3 innings, 3 strikeouts), reliever Cam Barbulean (2 innings, 1 strikeout), Colden Forney (2 hits, 3 RBIs) and Wes Sturrup (2 hits) led Post 468.
“We’ve got a lot of experienced guys and all of these guys are either playing college baseball and going to college to play baseball,” Madrid said. “So we’re a pretty confident team.”
ALWS Schedule
Aug. 15: Game 2, vs. Chesapeake (Va.) Post 280, 1 p.m. ET
Aug. 16: Game 5, vs. Bossier City (La.) Post 202, 10 a.m. ET
Aug. 17: Game 12, vs. Asheville (N.C.) Post 70, 7 p.m. ET
Roster*
No. Name Pos. Ht./Wt. B/T Graduates / School
22 Allen, Derrick P / CF 6’1”/170 R/R 2025 / Greece Athena HS
21 Barbulean, Cam P / CF 6’3”/185 L/L 2025 / Piittsford Mendon
4 Bonnell, Nolan P / LF 6’0”/168 R/R 2025 / Brighton HS
33 Brinza, Nate 1B / P 6’3”/240 R/R 2025 / Canandaigua Academy
11 Calogero, Michael P / RF 6’0”/220 R/R 2025 / Aquinas Institute
2 Cannon, Tyler RF / LF 6’3”/220 R/R 2025 / Webster Schroeder
13 Clark, Peter C / 1B 6’0”/195 R/R 2025 / Leroy HS
14 Davey, Mason P / 3B 5’11”/185 R/R 2025 / Rush Henrietta
12 Forney, Colden SS / 2B 5’10”/185 R/R 2025 / Piittsford Mendon
31 Grimes, Quentin P / 1B 5’11”/170 L/L 2024 / Rush Henrietta
8 Higgins, Jake 2B / 1B 6’3”/175 R/R 2025 / Leroy HS
26 Kelly, Jack P / 1B 6’3”/185 R/R 2025 / Webster Schroeder
27 Power, Nathan P / RF 5’11”/180 R/R 2024 / Victor
7 Savage, Dylan C / LF 5’10”/190 R/R 2025 / Rush Henrietta
6 Sturrup, Wes 3B / LF 6’0”/175 R/R 2025 / Brighton HS
44 Walker, Tre CF / RF 6’1”/195 L/R 2024 / Aquinas Institute
Manager: Nelson Madrid
Assistants: Jim Capellupo, Jyles Carley, Todd Grimes
*Players will receive camo jerseys for Military Appreciation Day during team orientation which may be different numbers than listed here.
Regional results
Aug. 6: Greece (N.Y.) Post 468 d. Cumberland (R.I.) Post 14, 5-1.
Aug. 7: Greece (N.Y.) Post 468 d. Bedford (N.H.) Post 54, 14-0 (5 innings).
Aug. 8: Greece (N.Y.) Post 468 d. St. Johnsbury (Vt.) Post 58, 11-1 (5 innings).
Aug. 9: Waterford (Conn.) Post 161 d. Greece (N.Y.) Post 468, 4-0.
Aug. 10: Greece (N.Y.) Post 468 d. Waterford (Conn.) Post 161, 7-5.
- Baseball