Legion Baseball regionals: Day 2 recap

Day two is in the books for the 2019 American Legion Baseball regionals, setting up a busy Friday with two elimination games and one matchup of undefeateds in each region.

For brackets, schedules and live stats click here.

Here is a recap of the eight regionals through day two:

Region 1 – Northeast – Shrewsbury, Mass.

2-0: Lawrence (Mass.), Shrewsbury (Mass.) Post 397
1-1: Brattleboro (Vt.) Post 5, Cumberland (R.I.) Post 14, Southington (Conn.) Post 72, Stamford (Conn.) Post 3
Eliminated: Nashua (N.H.) Post 124, Hampden (Maine)

Shrewsbury started and ended the day, both with victories. Early in the morning, the host team completed a 15-2 victory over Hampden in a continuation of a rain-suspended game from Wednesday. The bats stayed hot at night in a 9-0 win over Brattleboro. As a 2-0 team, Shrewsbury will face off against the other unbeaten, in-state rivals Lawrence, which earned a 4-1 victory over Cumberland. The two Massachusetts teams sent Brattleboro and Cumberland to the bottom half of the bracket where they will face off with Stamford and Southington, respectively, after the two Connecticut teams staved off elimination with victories Thursday. Stamford had a convincing bounce-back effort, winning 11-1 over Nashua and Southington took advantage of a Hampden team that had to play just three hours prior to win 6-2.

Region 2 – Mid-Atlantic – Asheboro, N.C.
For live radio coverage of games visit sportstone.net

2-0: Vienna Post (Va.) 180, Morgantown (W.V.) Post 2
1-1: Middletown (Del.) Canal Post 25, Brooklawn (N.J) Post 72, Wilmington (N.C.) Post 10, Randolph Co., (N.C.) Post 45
Eliminated: Funkstown (Md.) Post 211, Hamburg (N.Y.) Post 527

Since 2011, only one team not from the states of Delaware or New Jersey have won Region 2, with Brooklawn winning five straight in that span. In addition, three of the last six American Legion World Series champions came from those states, but both fell into the bottom half of the bracket Wednesday. On Thursday, both states rebounded and soundly stayed alive. Middletown opened the day with a 10-5 win to eliminate Funkstown, scoring four in the top of the seventh to break open a close game. Brooklawn put up eight runs in the first three innings to take care of Hamburg, 9-3. In the top half the bracket, both teams from the host state of North Carolina fell, setting up a very interesting bottom half of the bracket Friday. Morgantown leadoff man Quintin Smith had three runs to help propel his team to the all-important Game 11 by beating Wilmington, 9-4. In the nightcap, Vienna bested the host team, Randolph Co., 6-2, scoring all six runs in the final three turns at bat. Vienna and Morgantown, both of whom have had a great start to the regional tournament, will square off in the finale Friday for a chance to remain the lone unbeaten team in the region.

Region 3 – Southeast – Tampa, Fla.

2-0: Tupelo (Miss) 49ers
1-0: Destrehan, La. Post 366 Pedal Valve Cardinals, West Tampa (Fla.) Post 248
1-1: Tallahassee (Fla.) Post 13, Troy (Ala.) Post 70, Fort Mill (S.C.) Post 43
Eliminated: Greer (S.C.) Post 115, Columbia (Tenn.) Post 19

Another rain-shortened day in the Sunshine State means that the host team, West Tampa, will have to play their second delayed morning game instead of night game. Game 4, originally scheduled for Wednesday, saw the hosts top Columbia, 10-1. The Tennessee team was forced to play three hours later and fell again to Troy, 12-3, to end their season. In the other game in the bottom of the bracket, Fort Mill topped Greer, 15-3, in a Palmetto State battle of the two South Carolina finalists. Two of the 1-0 teams were able to get their game in, with Tupelo scoring in five of the six frames they had at bat, earning a 7-4 victory over Tallahassee. The matchup between West Tampa and Destrehan will be moved to Friday morning before resuming the normal schedule.

Region 4- Mid-South – Hastings, Neb.

For live video streaming coverage of games visit strivsports.com/mid-south-regional-baseball

2-0: Festus (Mo.) Post 253, Fremont (Neb.) Post 20
1-1: Bryant (Ark.) Post 298, Coweta (Okla.) Post 226, Hastings (Neb.) Post 11, Texarkana (Texas) Post 25
Eliminated: Sadalia (Mo.) Post 642, Emporia (Kan.) Post 5

Fans in the Mid-South region were rewarded with four come-from-behind thrillers in Hastings, Neb., Thursday with three games decided by one run and the other one seeing a four-run rally in the seventh inning to win. Texarkana fought off elimination, topping Sedalia, 5-4, in the region's opening game, rallying from a 2-0 hole and scoring a run in the top of the sixth to break a deadlock. Home fans were treated to a courageous rally by Hastings in the second elimination game, as the hosts overcame a 6-1 deficit with three in the fifth and two more in the sixth to force extras before a Gabe Conant single brought home Mason Brumbaugh in the bottom of the ninth to walk off as winners. Coweta took a 4-1 lead into the fifth against Fremont but the Nebraska state champion also rallied, scoring two in the fifth to get within one and four in the top of the seventh to move to 2-0 on the campaign. In a day-ending pitchers' duel, Bryant scored in the top of the first and held that lead until a fifth inning rally from Festus brought home two runs to seal a 2-1 win.

Region 5 – Great Lakes – Charleston, Ill.

For live radio coverage of games visit www.myradiolink.com/player/?playerID=653

2-0 Beverly/Lowell (Ohio) Post 387/750, Danville (Ill.) Post 210
1-1: Swoyersville (Pa.) Post 644, Gladwin Co., (Mich.) Post 171, Lyon Co., (Ky.) Post 68, Terre Haute (Ind.) 346
Eliminated: Hempfield (Pa.) Post 981, Charleston (Ill.) Post 93

A battle of Pennsylvania opened the day as Hempfield and Swoyersville squared off in the morning’s elimination game. Hempfield scored in the top of the first but could only manage one hit of Swoyersville pitching on the day in a 4-1 defeat. Gladwin Co., scored in each of the final five innings to eliminate the host team, Charleston, Ill., 8-4. In the top half of the bracket, Lyon Co., and Danville played am exciting one, with Lyon Co., rallying from a 5-1 hole to tie it up in the seventh, but a walk-off hit by pitch won it for Danville in the bottom of the frame. On the heels of a 13-5 win on Thursday, Beverly/Lowell's offense stayed hot in a 10-2 win over Terre Haute. The Ohio team’s pitching was equally impressive, allowing only one hit in the contest.

Region 6 – Central Plains – Sioux Falls, S.D.

For live video streaming coverage of games visit https://www.midcosn.com/schedule and use the following credentials:

User: CPALRT@midco.net

Password: baseball2019

2-0: Excelsior (Minn.) Post 259, Appleton (Wisc.) Post 38
1-1: Edina (Minn.), Oshkosh (Wisc.) Post 70, Fargo (N.D.) Post 2, Renner (S.D.) Post 307
Eliminated: Dubuque Co., (Iowa) Post 137, Sioux Falls (S.D.) Post 15

On Wednesday, both Wisconsin teams and both Minnesota teams won, leading to two intrastate matchups in the winner's bracket in Region 6. In the Badger State showdown, the lead changed six times before the pendulum ultimately swung Appleton's way with a two-run top of the seventh to earn a 9-8 winner. The Gopher State showdown was actually the third in five days and the rematch turned out the same way as the Minnesota state title did, with Excelsior earning the victory. Post 259 had five players with multiple hits and only allowed five defensively in the 7-0 victory. In the bottom half of the bracket, Dubuque Co., found itself in a 9-0 hole and rallied to put the tying run in scoring position but the Iowa team's bid to return to the American Legion World Series fell short in a 10-8 defeat to Renner. In a contest between the two Dakotas, Fargo put up seven runs in the second and nearly matched it in the fourth to post a 13-1 victory, eliminating the hosts from Sioux Falls. Taylor Parrett only allowed one hit in his four innings on the mound.

Region 7 – Northwest – Lewiston, Idaho

For live radio coverage of games visit us7.maindigitalstream.com/2640/

2-0: Bozeman (Mont.) Post 14, Medford (Ore.) Post 15
1-1: Kennewick (Wash.) Post 34, Idaho Falls (Idaho) Post 56, Bellevue (Wash.), Casper (Wyo.) Post 2
Eliminated: Juneau (Alaska) Post 25, Lewiston (Idaho) Post 13

The 2019 American Legion Baseball national tournament might not see a comeback like the miracle Casper, Wyo., pulled off to stay alive in Region 7. Down 8-3 in the bottom of the seventh, three doubles led off the inning and Juneau’s control issues helped Wyoming move runners along before a game-ending wild pitch ended the contest, 9-8. The second elimination game was more convincing, as Bellevue scored ten runs between the third and fifth to earn a 10-0 victory, eliminating the hosts, Lewiston. In the top half of the bracket, Medford and Idaho Falls matched scorelines for the first five innings, both scoring one in the first and two in the fourth, but a three-run sixth for Medford was not matched and Oregon moved to 2-0 with a 6-3 win. Sage McMinn hurled a gem for Bozeman in the nightcap to send Montana to 2-0 with a 5-0 win over Kennewick. McMinn struck out eight in his three-hit shutout.

Region 8 – Western – Fairfield, Calif.

2-0: Henderson (Nev.) Post 40, Honolulu, (Hawaii) Damien Post 35
1-1: Albuquerque, NM Post 13, Tucson (Ariz.) Post 36, Petaluma (Calif.) Post 28, Fairfield (Calif.) Expos Baseball
Eliminated: Salt Lake City (Utah) Post 116, Grand Junction (Colo.)

Out west, two offenses that really didn't want to go home squared off in a game where one team had to. Salt Lake City had four innings with multiple runs and took a 10-6 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning, but that was not enough in this slugfest as their opponents from New Mexico brought six home in the frame to earn a 12-10 win to stay alive. All nine Albuquerque starters scored at least one run. In the other elimination tilt, Tucson held on to its lead to prevent a Grand Junction comeback, staying alive with a 6-3 win. Henderson and Petaluma played a tight contest between two 1-0 teams, with Henderson emerging victorious, 4-2 to stay unbeaten. In the final game of the day, the hosts, Fairfield, led for the majority of the game after a four-run top of the first inning but Honolulu chipped away with runs in the second and fifth before sending nine men to the plate in the sixth, plating four to take a 6-4 lead. Fairfield had the tying run reach base but ultimately, Honolulu closed the door.

For brackets, schedules and live stats click here.