ALWS Game 1: Texas opens title defense with win over North Dakota

When League City (Tex.) Post 554 won the 2023 American League World Series, it opened the 15-game event with a no-hit shutout and closed it with a six-hit shutout by MVP Jacob Cyr.

So what would Post 554 starter Asa Sampson do in the 2024 ALWS opener? A three-hitter in a 7-3 victory over Fargo (N.D.) Post 2 as League City opened its title defense in Thursday’s opening game.

“I was just trying to give it my all,” said Sampson, a Clear Creek High School graduate. “It was good to score early and I tried to keep it rolling.”

League City scored in each of the first four innings, taking leads of 1-0, 2-0, 3-1, 3-2 and 7-2.

Sampson yielded three hits, three runs (two earned) and four walks while striking out four.

“He’s one of my young ones but he fights and competes,” said Post 554 coach Ronnie Oliver, whose team improved to 28-3 on the season. “He did a helluva job today. We’re proud of him.”

League City was efficient offensively as it scored in the first inning on Sampson’s RBI groundout, added a second run in the second on back-to-back doubles by Alex Kudler and Thomas Huang, scored on a throwing error in the third and added four runs in the fourth on Sampson’s sacrifice fly and Brice Smith’s three-run home run.

Oliver admitted that being the defending ALWS champion made it feel differently this season, which is his team’s third straight appearance in the ALWS.

“Yeah, you feel like you’ve got a big target on your back,” Oliver said. “But we’re here just like anybody else. It’s a different year and we’ve got a different team. All we can do is compete.”

League City continues its three-game Stars Division pool play on Friday at 4 p.m. against Hudson (Mass.) Post 100.

Fargo (48-9) was led by Jordan Leininger’s RBI double and Charlie Kalbrener’s two sacrifice flies. Fargo will face Troy (Ala.) Post 70 at 7 p.m. Friday.