Legion Baseball regionals: Day 3 recap

We’re down to the penultimate day of the American Legion Baseball regional tournament and four teams remain in each region.

There is one unbeaten team in each of the eight pools and three teams sitting at 2-1. Per American Legion Baseball policy, the bracket may be rearranged to avoid rematches if possible. All 3-0 teams are guaranteed to have a chance to play for the championship on Sunday, while the other teams need a win to make it to Sunday.

For brackets, schedules and live stats click here.

Here is a recap of the eight regionals heading into the weekend:

Region 1 – Northeast – Shrewsbury, Mass.

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

For the third straight year, the hosts, Shrewsbury, will be playing for the Region 1 title. A 6-4, extra-inning, victory over in-state rival Lawrence assured that fate, as the hosts scored three in the top of the eighth and held off a late Lawrence rally to stay unbeaten. In the day’s elimination matchups, Cumberland overcame a 2-0 deficit with five runs in the sixth to eliminate Southington and Stamford blanked Brattleboro, 9-0. TJ Wainwright struck out six and only allowed four hits over six shutout innings for Stamford. On Saturday, Lawrence and Stamford face off early for a chance to play on until Sunday. In the day’s second game, Cumberland looks to stay alive against a Shrewsbury team assured to make it to the final day once again.

Region 2 – Mid-Atlantic – Asheboro, N.C.

For live radio coverage of games visit sportstone.net

3-0: Vienna Post (Va.) 180
2-1: Morgantown (W.V.) Post 2, Brooklawn (N.J) Post 72, Randolph Co., (N.C.) Post 45
Eliminated: Funkstown (Md.) Post 211, Hamburg (N.Y.) Post 527, Middletown (Del.) Canal Post 25, Wilmington (N.C.) Post 10

Seeking a 16th American Legion World Series appearance, Brooklawn got off to a bad start with a loss on Wednesday, but the New Jersey team has been nearly perfect since. Another big win Friday kept the Brooklawn hopes alive, eliminating Wilmington, 8-3. Nick Nocella helped power Post 72 with a homer. Randolph County has been to back-to-back American Legion World Series in their home state, but the former Region 3 member also fell into the bottom half of the bracket Thursday. The team responded with a 11-6 win over Middletown and move on to Saturday. Both face tough challenges from the two teams that entered Friday unbeaten: Morgantown and Vienna. In the showdown of 2-0 teams, however, Vienna could not be stopped on the offensive side, scoring 15 runs on 16 hits. Five players had multiple runs batted in. In Saturday’s matchups, Morgantown will look to rebound against Randolph County, followed by Brooklawn and the unbeaten Vienna.

Region 3 – Southeast – Tampa, Fla.

3-0 Destrehan, La. Post 366 Pedal Valve Cardinals
2-1: Tupelo (Miss.) 49ers, West Tampa (Fla.) Post 248, Troy (Ala.) Post 70
Eliminated: Greer (S.C.) Post 115, Columbia (Tenn.) Post 19, Tallahassee (Fla.) Post 13, Fort Mill (S.C.) Post 43

What a day for the Pedal Valves Cardinals who came into the day 1-0 but were forced to play two games Friday due to weather. The Louisiana-based team handled West Tampa in the first game of the day, 10-3, forcing an evening matchup of unbeatens with Tupelo. Louisiana stayed hot offensively in that one with a 13-4. Ron Franklin went 3-for-5 on the day with four runs, five runs batted in and a homer for the Cardinals. In the two elimination games of the day, Troy defeated Tallahassee, 12-2 and West Tampa rebounded to knock out Fort Mill, 10-6. Bryan Perez reached base in all four plate appearances with a homer and three runs batted in for West Tampa. On Saturday, Tupelo will face off with West Tampa at 9:30 a.m., and Pedal Valves will look to stay undefeated against Troy immediately following. In the first game played in the tournament, Pedal Valves topped Troy, 5-4 on Wednesday.

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

In a must-win game for the hosts, Hastings, things couldn’t have gone much better. Not only did the offense explode for 10 runs, but CJ Remmenga pitched a no hitter. “We knew CJ would be good today," coach Kevin Asher said to Omaha.com. “But you’re not expecting a no-hitter." In the other elimination game, Bryant looked to be cruising against Texarkana, but a four-run Texarkana rally in the sixth tied the game up and forced extras. Bryant recovered, however, and Coby Greiner brought home Gage Stark to keep Bryant to walk off as winners. In the evening game, pitchers starred for Festus and Fremont as the teams were forced to extra innings tied at 0-0. It was Festus that broke through in the eighth, scoring twice and staying unbeaten in the region, 2-0. On Saturday, Fremont and Bryant play at 4:30 p.m., and Festus and Hastings battle afterward.

Region 5 – Great Lakes – Charleston, Ill.

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

3-0 Beverly/Lowell (Ohio) Post 387/750
2-1 Danville (Ill.) Post 210, Swoyersville (Pa.) Post 644, Gladwin Co., (Mich.) Post 171
Eliminated: Hempfield (Pa.) Post 981, Charleston (Ill.) Post 93, Lyon Co., (Ky.) Post 68, Terre Haute (Ind.) 346

Beverly/Lowell and Danville squared off in what will certainly be the game of the tournament, with neither team interested in falling to 2-1 in Friday’s nightcap. After both teams scored in the first, both teams went quietly in the second leaving the teams level at 1-1. But then the offenses woke up. Danville put up five runs in the top in the third but the lead was short-lived as Ohio scored seven in the bottom of the frame. After Danville retook the lead with three in the top of the fourth, Beverly/Lowell returned serve with four in the bottom of the frame. Danville responded with six in the fifth and Beverly/Lowell tied it up in the bottom of the frame, 15-15. Pitching settled down and only one more run was scored: Beverly/Lowell plated one more in the sixth to move to 3-0. Danville had 17 hits with Dakotah Broeker's 4-for-4 and four-run effort leading the way. For Beverly/Lowell, nine players scored and Brett Gandee swatted a two-run homer and earned the save in relief. Both teams had five players had multiple runs batted in. Both teams will regroup and play again Saturday, with Danville opening the day against Gladwin Co., which stayed alive with a 6-3 win over Lyon Co., on the back of a five-run third inning. Beverly/Lowell will face Swoyersville, which topped Terre Haute, 14-4. The Pennsylvania squad trailed 4--2 heading into the bottom of the fourth but posted innings of seven, four and one to close it out.

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
2-1: Fargo (N.D.) Post 2, Renner (S.D.) Post 307
Eliminated: Dubuque Co., (Iowa) Post 137, Sioux Falls (S.D.) Post 15, Edina (Minn.), Oshkosh (Wis.) Post 70

Weather created a bit of a mess in Region 6, with the suspension of Game 11 causing a lot of questions going into Saturday. Here’s what we do know. Excelsior and Appleton will resume at 10 a.m., in the second inning with Excelsior leading, 2-0. We also know that later in the day, Excelsior will play Renner and Appleton will play Fargo. The times of those games will be determined by Game 11 and the victor in that contest will play the late game, while the loser will have to play back-to-back. However inconvenient it may be for Renner and Fargo to wait until Saturday to know their fate, both teams are happy to still be in the tournament after must-win victories on Friday. Fargo only needed five innings thanks to an 11-0 victory over Oshkosh. Colton Frey went the whole way for Fargo, allowing just one hit and Blake Anderson was the hitting star with three hits and four runs batted in. Renner broke a scoreless draw in the fourth with six runs against Edina, but a five-run reply from the Minnesota team left the game in the balance. South Dakota pitching settled down over the last two frames and Renner advanced, 6-5.

Region 7 – Northwest – Lewiston, Idaho

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3-0: Bozeman (Mont.) Post 14
2-1 Medford (Ore.) Post 15, Kennewick (Wash.) Post 34, Idaho Falls (Idaho) Post 56
Eliminated: Juneau (Alaska) Post 25, Lewiston (Idaho) Post 13, Bellevue (Wash.), Casper (Wyo.) Post 2

Idaho Falls won the opening game on Friday in an elimination tilt against Bellevue, scoring in each of the first six innings to take a 15-7 win. In the other knockout game, Kennewick broke open a 6-6 game in the sixth inning with five runs. Eight players had hits for Kennewick. In a battle of the two 2-0 teams, Bozeman broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth and added three more in the fifth, holding on to a 4-1 win over Medford to move into the driver's seat in the region. On Saturday, Bozeman will get Idaho Falls in the nightcap and Medford and Kennewick will compete in the first game to stay alive.

Region 8 – Western – Fairfield, Calif.

3-0: Honolulu, (Hawaii) Damien Post 35
2-1: Albuquerque Post 13, Petaluma (Calif.) Post 28, Henderson (Nev.) Post 40
Eliminated: Salt Lake City (Utah) Post 116, Grand Junction (Colo.), Tucson (Ariz.) Post 36, Fairfield (Calif.) Expos Baseball

Petaluma's bats turned on in the fourth inning and three straight multi-run innings followed, taking Petaluma past Tucson, 9-3, in the first elimination game of the day. Immediately following the first two times Albuquerque scored in the second game of the day, the hosts, Fairfield, responded, leading to a tie ballgame headed to the bottom of the seventh inning. New Mexico loaded the bases for Roy Lee Jennings, who brought home Brent Rigtrup with a single to right field to walk off as winners. The big game of the night was the unbeaten showdown and it did not disappoint. Henderson jumped out to an early lead on Honolulu with three in the first and, after Honolulu cut that lead to one, Henderson matched the two-spot with two more to make the lead 5-2 in the fourth. Honolulu chipped away, scoring two in the fifth and one more in the sixth to force extras. Hawaii walked off as winners in the ninth after a walk, sacrifice bunt and single ended the game. Henderson faces Albuquerque at 4 p.m., Saturday followed by Honolulu and Petaluma at 7 p.m.