Alex McLaughlin drove in Mike Walsh with a walk-off RBI single to center field in the bottom of the 12th inning, as Sudbury Post 191 defeated Methuen, 2-1, in the Elite Eight playoffs of the American Legion National Bound tournament Thursday at Hanover Insurance Park at Holy Cross.
Sudbury (14-1) advances to face East Side Post 201, a 13-3 winner over Walpole, at Holy Cross on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in the semifinals of the Elite Eight. Friday?s winner moves on to the New England Regional of the National Bound tournament.
Sudbury?s Gino Fordiani walked to start off the bottom of the 12th and was pinch run for by Walsh. Robbie Olyphant dropped a sacrifice bunt to move Walsh to second before Sam Miller?s single gave Sudbury first-and-third with one out.
McLaughlin came up and delivered only the ninth hit of the game for Post 191 to clinch the victory. There were only 18 hits total between the two teams, none of which went for extra bases.
Reid Jordan pitched five scoreless innings for Sudbury before Marcus Otis came on for two innings of scoreless relief.
The game was scoreless until Methuen scored the first run of the game in the top of the ninth off Ben Chiasson, but he was bailed out in the bottom of the ninth when Olyphant scored on an RBI single by Miller to force extra innings.
Chiasson shook off the lone run in five innings of work to earn the win.
Post 191 and manager Len Noce watched as an extremely talented and skilled East Side (16-4) of Zone 4 cruised past Walpole in Thursday?s earlier matchup.
"They are a very aggressive team, who are fast and can hit very well," said Noce.
"We got an extremely tough opponent tomorrow and you work so hard to get here you just want to play your best game when you get here," he added. "I just want to give it the best shot we got and see what happens.
Last year Noce?s squad was a win away from advancing to the New England Regional but bowed out to Barnstable in the Elite Eight semifinals. There are only four returning players from last year?s Sudbury team.
"It?s going to be a real test of our team?s character," said Noce. "This team we put together has had 15 games of bonding and building and tomorrow will be the test to see how far they have come."
LOWELL 2, ASHLAND 1: Ashland starter Ben Smith threw a two?hitter with nine strikeouts in a complete-game effort, but Lowell rallied to tip visiting Post 77 in a Zone 5 game.
The Assumption College-bound Smith, a right-hander from Bellingham, allowed just earned run. Brendan Thurber went 2-for-4 and scored Ashland?s lone run in the top of the first inning on Smith?s RBI single.
The loss drops Ashland (9-5) into a tie with Lowell for the fourth and final playoff spot in the zone. Zone 5A-leading Sudbury, Zone 5B-leading Medford and Hudson hold the top three spots in the entire zone.
Thurber, Matt Jeye and Thurber led off the game with singles. With no outs, Jeye and Thurber then moved to second and third on a passed ball, but Lowell got out of the jam.
Overall, Ashland stranded seven runners in scoring position. Post 77 had seven hits in the game, including Kevin Guiliano?s double in the fourth inning.
Lowell tied the game in the bottom of the first and scored the winning run in the sixth.
FRAMINGHAM, FRANKLIN POSTPONED: Both the Framingham Post 74 vs. Cherry Valley Zone 4 game and Franklin Post 75 vs. Walpole Zone 6 West game slated Thursday were postponed.
The make-up dates for both games will be determined.
Senior Babe Ruth
BELLINGHAM 5, MILFORD 1: Sean Postler allowed one earned on five hits and struck out three in five innings to pick up the win for Bellingham (12-3-1) in a Central Mass. Senior Babe Ruth South matchup at Milford.
Jeff Dunn pitched two innings of relief and also went 2-for-3 with two runs scored for Bellingham. Taylor Sutherland scored twice and Kevin Valentine went 2-for-4 in the win.
FRANKLIN-ASHLAND POSTPONED: The Ashland at Franklin Central Mass. Senior Babe Ruth baseball game scheduled Thursday night was postponed because of wet field conditions.
The game has been re-scheduled for Saturday at Fletcher Field 3 in Franklin starting at 10:30 a.m.
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