ALWS Game 13: Michigan denies Texas’ repeat bid with extra innings victory
A year ago this time, Midland (Mich.) Post 165 first baseman Nathan Ball was as disappointed as he could be.
On Monday night, Ball had the opposite emotion after his two-out RBI single in the eighth inning gave Midland a 1-0 victory over defending American Legion World Series champion League City (Tex.) Post 554 and a berth in Tuesday’s ALWS championship game.
Midland (31-6) will meet the winner of Monday’s second semifinal — Troy (Ala.) Post 70 vs. Wilmington Delvets (Del.) Post 1 — on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for the 2024 ALWS title in a game that will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
A year ago, Ball and his teammates lost a Great Lakes Regional final that kept them from a third straight ALWS at Veterans Field at Keeter Stadium in Shelby, N.C.
After last summer’s regional loss, Ball was one of several players who vowed to come back and help Post 165 advance this season. Midland did just that by coming through the loser’s bracket to win the Great Lakes Regional in Carol Stream, Ill.
Once in Shelby, Post 165 has rolled as Monday’s win was its fourth straight in the eight-team event that began last Thursday.
“This is just awesome,” Ball said of the semifinals that also were broadcast on ESPNU. “You don’t get to play on national TV too much. So it’s just an awesome feeling in front of a city that supports this and I’m sure we’re going to have support back home too.”
Ball hit a 1-1 offering from League City reliever Braden Castle for a single to centerfield that scored Ryan Louch with the lone run of the pitcher’s duel. Louch drew a one-out walk to start a winning rally that included Aidan Robinson’s single and an intentional walk to Cayden Smith.
After Castle struck out Mitchell Walters on a strikeout with the bases loaded and one out, Ball came to the plate.
“There was no doubt,” Ball said. “I had my job to do. And that was to pick up my teammates.”
The win gave Ball, who will be a sophomore baseball player at Central Michigan this school year, a chance to reflect on the change in fortunes from a year ago.
“We were at home and we lost to (Cedar Rapids Swisher) Iowa in our third game (on the regional) and went through some rain and got back to the championship,” Ball said. “But we never found it, and it stunk. That was a day I didn’t like because everyone who’s ever played at Berryhill knows that you want to get to Shelby.”
For League City, the loss ended Post 554’s season at 29-5 and ended its hopes of becoming the seventh back-to-back ALWS champion.
“It’s a disappointing loss but you’ve got to give credit to both starting pitchers,” League City coach Ronnie Oliver said of his starting pitcher Tyler Ryden (7 innings, 8 strikeouts) and Midland starter Luke LaCourse (7 2/3 innings, 8 strikeouts). “They both threw the ball extremely well.
“We came in here and played hard. When you finish in the top four, you’ve done something. There’s no reason to hang your head.”
League City and Troy became the 10th and 11th programs to make three straight ALWS appearances this year, and League City was seeking to join Oakland (Calif.) Post 337 in 1949-50, Cincinnati (Ohio) Post 50 in 1957-58, West Covina (Calif.) Post 790 in 1970-71, Rio Piedras (P.R.) Post 146 in 1973-74, Brooklawn (N.J.) in 2013-14 and Idaho Falls (Idaho) Post 56 in 2019 and 2021 (no season in 2020) as back-to-back ALWS champions.
“That was a really well-played game by both sides,” said Midland coach Dan Cronkright, whose program is making its 12th ALWS appearance all time (with a 2009 ALWS title) and ninth appearance in Shelby.
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