PIKE CREEK — Canal Post-25 swept its way to the American Legion baseball Mid-Atlantic Regional.
Fox Post-2 entered Friday needing only one victory to win the Delaware state title. …
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PIKE CREEK — Canal Post-25 swept its way to the American Legion baseball Mid-Atlantic Regional.
Fox Post-2 entered Friday needing only one victory to win the Delaware state title. But the Dover-area squad lost 3-0 in the first game to set up a winner-take all matchup in the double-elimination state tournament.
Canal Post-25 exploded for 16 runs in Game Two on its way to a 16-4 victory at St. Mark’s High School. It was the Middletown-area squad’s first state championship since 2016 and third all-time.
Fox Post-2 was hoping to win its first state title since 2003.
Canal Post-25 will represent Delaware at the Mid-Atlantic Regional in Asheboro, North Carolina on Wednesday, Aug. 7 to Sunday, Aug. 11. Delaware is the two-time defending Mid-Atlantic champion as Delaware Post-1 won the World Series last year.
Fox Post-2, the second seed, was 2-0 in the tournament after defeating top-seeded, and previously unbeaten, Delvets on Wednesday 10-2.
Canal Post-25 was the fifth seed in the six-team tournament and it dropped its first game of the tournament 13-1 to Delaware Post-1 last Saturday. But Canal Post-25 won three games in a row to come out of the losers’ bracket into Friday’s matchup.
Jon Hines pitched a complete game shutout for Canal Post-25 in the first game of the day. Fox Post-2 could only manage three hits off Hines — one each by Alec Rodriguez, Hiram Davis and Nate Turner.
Canal Post-25 plated a pair of runs in the top of the fourth off a walk, a passed ball, a wild pitch, two errors and a bunt single. Jarret Weglarz put the game out of reach with a leadoff home run in the top of the seventh.
Brandon Hatch went the distance for Fox Post-2 in Game One. Hatch struck out three while giving up one earned run and scattering eight hits.
Canal Post-25 then recorded 16 hits and were aided by five Fox Post-2 errors in the second contest.
Gabe McDermott paced Canal Post-25 with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate with four RBI, two doubles and two runs scored. Jake Walls, Derek Pusey and Devon McClendon each knocked in a pair of runs.
David Preziuso had a three-hit game and scored three times. Colton Duckworth also added three hits and two runs scored.
Canal Post-25 jumped on top with three runs in the top of the second thanks to two defensive errors by Fox Post-2. It added another unearned run after another Fox Post-2 error in the third.
Fox Post-2 cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning before Canal Post-25 responded with four more runs in the fourth. Fox Post-2 pulled two runs back in the bottom half but Canal Post-25 plated eight runs in the sixth and the game was called an inning early due to the 10-run rule.
Rodriguez led Fox Post-2 in the second game with a 2-for-3 day and knocked in a run. Davis and Turner also picked up a RBI apiece while Turner, Hatch, Mason Brewer and Brent Buckson scored a run.
David Keane and Pusey pitched three inning each for Canal Post-25 and combined to hold Fox Post-2 to six hits in the contest.