After trip to state finals, Hudson Post 100 now vying for regional title

WORCESTER – Resiliency led to history for another team from this town that wears red, but doesn’t “see red” when the deficit grows large.

The team that trailed 5-2 on Sunday and 8-0 – in the first inning – on Wednesday only to win each time, finally dug a hole too large to creep out of.

Hudson Post 100 was guaranteed its first trip to the American Legion Regional Tournament before taking the field on a steamy Thursday afternoon. That doesn’t mean winning the state title wasn’t still a goal.

And when tournament host Shrewsbury Post 397 scored seven runs in the third inning to lead 8-3 at Fitton Field, no one showed concern. But when Shrewsbury added six more, dreams of a championship faded.

Post 100’s improbable uprising from down eight runs in the fifth inning to Belchertown the day before clinched a spot at Regionals, meaning Hudson’s best-ever season would continue for another week.

As Shrewsbury celebrated its first state title since 2016 after a 14-3 win Thursday, Hudson second baseman Bobby Long Jr. talked about his team’s historic first appearance at Regionals.

“It means everything to me. I’ve been wearing this uniform since I was 9 years old,” he said. “I’ve grown up with these guys.”

Long appeared to have Post 100 in position to hand Post 397 its first loss of the tournament and set up a winner-take-all final game later Thursday. His two-run double in the third inning put his team ahead 3-1 and he later threw out a runner at the plate to keep his team up two in the bottom of the frame.

But Gabe Terlato’s two-run single that same inning and an RBI double by tournament MVP Jimmy Mitchell (3 for 4) put Shrewsbury ahead to stay in a game shortened to 4 ½ innings due to the mercy rule.

“We were down five runs and then it turned into 11 really fast,” Long said. “We didn’t have enough time to respond.”

“Give a lot of credit to them,” Post 100 head coach Ryan Bowen said of Shrewsbury, a team Hudson split with during the regular season, each team winning 3-2. “It’s not easy to come out as a host and win five games to win a state championship.”

Hudson’s comebacks this week against Hingham and Belchertown added to the town’s list of astonishing revivals.

Hudson High’s softball team was down 9-0 in the fourth inning to Triton in the state quarterfinals before earning a 10-9 win. The football team trailed Fairhaven last fall in the state semis by 26 points in the third quarter before narrowly succumbing, 40-37.

Even Post 100’s first loss of the state Legion tournament included deficits of 4-0 and 7-2 before Hudson forced extra innings. Post 100 didn’t need to win Thursday to advance, but they still wanted the championship trophy.

“You see it all the time with athletes at a high level: they have a hard time shutting it off – that competition meter,” Bowen said. “It’s one of the reasons we got as far as we did. These guys love to compete whether they’re down by eight runs or whatever it is.”

Hudson Post 100 opens Regionals vs. Maine state champ

Hudson will play the first game of the Regional tournament on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. against Maine state champion Quirk Motor City Riverdogs out of Hampden at Gill Stadium in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Quirk Motor City won the title after a 2-0 win on Wedneday behind a three-hitter and 12 strikeouts from tournament MVP TJ Llerena, who is headed to the University of Southern Maine. He will be a teammate of Post 100’s Chase Donahue, who will be a USM sophomore in the fall.

“More days of baseball with the guys,” Bowen said of reaching Regionals. “This group is - incredible is an understatement, to say the least. We’ve got two more (games) and hopefully a little bit more than that.”

“I’m so close with so many people that have worn a Hudson uniform and it means everything in the world to me,” said Long, a 2023 Hudson High grad who plays baseball for Lasell University. "For as long as I’m going to wear it, I’m going to wear it with pride and play as hard as I can.”

Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: After trip to state finals, Hudson Post 100 now vying for regional title