After winning the first two games of the Frank Riley American Legion District Tournament by a combined sum of 18 runs, the St. Mary's Post 255 (Bean) found itself in a far more contentious affair last Friday evening when it eventually forged a 3-1 victory over La Plata Post 82 at Chancellor's Run Regional Park.
St. Mary's Post 255 earned a berth in the upcoming Maryland state tournament, which gets under way July 26 at Joe Cannon Stadium in Anne Arundel County then, regardless of its performance there, will host the American Legion Mid-Atlantic Region II Tournament from Aug. 3-11 with all games being played at Joe Cannon.
Last Friday evening, two nights after opening the tournament with a comfortable 14-4 victory over St. Mary's Post 255 (Morgan) amid hot, humid conditions, Post 255 nearly faced its first deficit of the tourney. La Plata's Taylor Ellis led off with a single to right then Jacob Sweeney worked Post 255 starter Ryan Ludlow for a walk. The next pitch changed the entire complexion of the game.
La Plata batter Patrick Wutka greeted Ludlow with a crisp liner that appeared destined for right field and the start of a potential big inning. But Wutka's liner was snared by St. Mary's first baseman Colby Hayden who then turned and doubled up Ellis was second and then briefly had a chance to record a triple play before Sweeney retreated safely back to first.
"That was great, heads up play by Colby," St. Mary's Post 255 coach Jason Bean said. "He caught the ball then turned and got the lead runner at second. For a split second there it looked like he could have gotten three outs. But that was a big play very early in the game."
St. Mary's took a modest 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning against La Plata left-handed pitcher Cam Gill although the damage could have been much greater. Jared Harry and Ryan Brown singled and both advanced on a wild pitch. Hunter Lee then singled home Harry, but then was caught attempting to steal second base. Gill walked two St. Mary's batter but escaped further harm.
"They have a lot of great hitters on that team," said Gill, a rising senior at La Plata High School who suffered the loss while allowing just three runs in six complete innings on the hill. "We've got a really good group of guys on this team. We had a pretty good summer and most of us will be playing for La Plata next spring."
La Plata actually drew even in the top of the fourth against Ludlow when Ryan Prehoda singled, took second on a wild pitch then scored on a single by Gill. Ludlow escaped further harm, however, by retiring the next three La Plata batters in his final inning of work then watched his teammates produce two more runs and Brown seal the verdict.
Lee smacked a one-out double in the home half of the fourth and scored when Cam Bott beat out an infield single. Post 255 manufactured an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth and Brown, a recent Great Mills High School graduate, earned the victory by tossing three scoreless innings, striking out the side in the seventh and four straight La Plata batters overall to end it.
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