Hudson Post 100 heads to World Series; here's a look at their opponents and season stats

Post 100 players gathered around Dick Paster on Sunday after they won the program’s first Regional championship . They were awed when he told them that the trip of a lifetime awaited.

Post 100 is representing the Northeast at this week’s American Legion World Series in Shelby, North Carolina, a first for the Hudson-based program . Paster, the Regional Tournament director, also said ESPN will be broadcasting the games.

Whoa.

Their collective reaction was quickly cut off.

“This is a business trip,” right fielder Peter Ward cautioned.

That is Post 100’s conundrum: how do they enjoy the experience while also vying for a national championship?

“It’s a great question,” manager Ryan Bowen said in a text.

When the compact, five-week regular season began on June 8, few could have imagined traveling down the East Coast to play the most meaningful games of the season in mid-August.

“I was like, ‘I’ll sign up for like 20-25 games,’” said infielder Dan Demirjian. “And now we’re here and it’s like game 40 going down to North Carolina.”

Post 100 has won 29 of its 37 games and will begin round-robin play at the 97 ^th American Legion World Series Thursday at 4 p.m. against Southeast champ Troy, Alabama. Chase Donahue will start on the mound for Hudson.

After the previous three tournaments included a double-elimination format, the World Series splits eight teams into two divisions: Stripes and Stars. The top two teams from each division advance to Monday’s semifinals. Post 100 will play the two previous champions to start off the tournament at 5,500-seat Keeter Stadium.

Looking back: Milford Legion remembers glory days of 2001

“I think we have no problem,” Donahue said. “Anytime we see competition, we elevate ourselves. I don’t think it really matters to us. No matter who we play, we’re going to play our heart out.”

Bowen did formulate a well-thought-out answer to the experience/competition question, saying:

“Playing our regular season is a grind as we play 20 games in about 5 weeks, so there is no time to dwell on losses or ride too high on wins.

“So by the time we got to tournament play, that mindset just carried over and our guys just knew when they needed to turn it on.

“They’re all incredibly focused and they love to compete, and I know the coaches all believe that will continue down in Shelby.”

Hudson Post 100 vs. Troy, Alabama (Thursday 4 p.m.)

Troy Post 70, which has won eight consecutive Alabama state championships, won the World Series in 2022. This year’s team went 25-4 before winning the Southeast Regional, but despite outscoring opponents 36-10 in six games, advancing to the Series was no cakewalk.

Wayne County (N.C.) handed Troy its first Regional loss on Sunday, meaning the teams played again later in the day. Troy fell behind 4-1 in the fourth and trailed 4-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth before rallying to force extra innings. Cody Walsh sent Post 70 to their third consecutive World Series with a walk-off single in the ninth in a 5-4 victory.

Walsh was also the winning pitcher. Brady Richardson was named tournament MVP after hitting .455 (10 for 22) with six runs batted in. He also threw 6 1/3 innings and struck out 11 in an earlier appearance in the tournament. The rising senior at Enterprise High school is a Troy University commit. Cody “Houston” Markham, a recent high school graduate, is also playing baseball at Troy.

Aiden Wright was named Most Valuable Pitcher of the state tournament.

Hudson Post 100 vs. League City, Texas (Friday, 4 p.m.)

League City, Texas Post 554 won last year’s World Series, becoming the first team from that state to win the championship. Jacob Cyr threw two shutouts during the tournament, including a no-hitter in the opener. The Galveston College lefty aged out of Legion baseball after last season, when he was named American Legion Player of the Year.

League City’s Tyler Ryden was named tournament MVP last week after going 2-0 with 25 strikeouts in 12 innings in Post 554’s Western Regional championship in Fairfield, Calif. Matthew Novominsky hit .462 with six RBI over the five games. Post 554 is 27-3.

Hudson Post 100 vs. Fargo, North Dakota (Saturday, noon)

Fargo Post 2 had to win three consecutive elimination games last week to advance to their first World Series since 2019. Post 2 lost their opener of the Central Plains Regional before rallying, winning two games on Sunday by a combined score of 26-5.

Sam Ovsak was named tournament MVP after hitting .595. He will play football at St. John’s of Minnesota, the winningest program in NCAA Division 3 history.

How to watch

This week’s round-robin games will be aired online at ESPN3 . Semifinals and the championship will be aired by ESPNU. For live stats, click here .

Notable numbers for Post 100

Chase Donahue leads the team with a 7-2 pitching record and has 72 strikeouts in 57 innings pitched. His 39 RBIs are also a team high and he’s hitting .404 ... Teddy McFarland is 5-2 with a 2.88 ERA with 30 strikeouts ... Connor Madden is 4-0, 2.21 ... Bobby Long Jr. has appeared in all 37 games and is hitting .319 with 41 runs scored. His most impressive stat is that he has been hit by a pitch 26 times and leads the team with a .562 on-base percentage. He has 29 stolen bases ... Anthony Moura , who hits ninth, leads the team with a .419 batting average ... Chase Barrett is hitting .319 with 33 RBI and a team-high 12 doubles ... Dan Demirjian is hitting .314 with six doubles ... Leadoff hitter Marshall Kehlhem has scored 40 runs and is 47 for 48 in stolen base attempts ... Garrett Mahoney is hitting .312 ... Peter Ward is at .284 with 10 RBI ... Matthew Gogan is hitting .284 with 13 RBI ... Ryan Dillon has 13 RBI ... Brendan O’Brien has 11 stolen bases ... Ryan Graf , in 44.1 IP, is 5-1 with 5 saves in 5 opportunities, and has a 1.57 ERA with 37 strikeouts ... Michael Atwater and Michael Domino each have 3 wins ... Post 100 has stolen 146 bases and has been caught just 9 times; they are batting .292 as a team.

World Series factoids

Baseball Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers was named American Legion Player of the Year and earned the Louisville Slugger Award – as the tournament’s top hitter - in 1964 when he played for Upland, Calif. ... The 22 runs that Milton (Mass.) scored vs. Lawrence, Kansas, in 2006 are an ALWS record. ... The only Massachusetts team to win the World Series was East Lynn in 1937, with Ray Bessom leading the way. He hit .555, won two games and saved another in the tournament. Bessom went 27-0 combined with Lynn English High and Post 291 that summer. Portland, Maine (2004) is the only other New England team to win the title. ... Milford and Shrewsbury have made the most ALWS appearances for Massachusetts, with three each. Vermont and Alaska are the only states to not appear in the World Series.

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: Hudson Post 100 heads to World Series; here's a look at their opponents and season stats