Chesapeake Post 280 baseball team wins Mid-Atlantic Regional, earns berth in American Legion World Series
Chesapeake Post 280 is enjoying a memorable postseason baseball surge and has earned a berth in the American Legion World Series.
Having already won the East Region and the state championship, Post 280 went 5-0 at the Mid-Atlantic Region tourney in Morgantown, West Virginia. Chesapeake defeated Frederick, Maryland, 12-2 Sunday afternoon to earn a trip to the World Series, which is set for Shelby, North Carolina, beginning Thursday.
Winner Brendan Hawley pitched a two-hitter in the six-inning game, and he had plenty of offensive support.
Spencer Sigmon was 4 for 4 with three RBIs, Trent Holland was 3 for 4 with three RBIs, Cooper Newell was 2 for 4 with two RBIs, and Ayden Stuffel drove in two runs.
Saturday, Chesapeake ousted Allentown, New Jersey, 5-4. Nick Valentin’s two-run homer to left gave Post 280 the lead in the bottom of the fifth, and his team hung on.
Gavin Whitehurst, who scored ahead of Valentin’s homer, pitched 4 1/3 innings, giving up four runs — all in the top of the fifth — and five hits. Stuffel got two outs for the victory, and Trevor Mason pitched two shutout innings for a save.
Valentin scored twice, and Austin Jones batted 2 for 2 with a walk.
Chesapeake began the tournament by rallying from a five-run deficit to edge Wilmington, Delaware, 6-5 Wednesday.
Jake Smith’s three-run homer in the bottom of the third narrowed the gap to 5-3. In the fifth, Cooper Newell’s sacrifice fly made it 5-4, and Sigmon’s RBI single tied the game just before Jones scored the eventual winning run on an error by the Wilmington center fielder on that play.
Thursday, Chesapeake breezed past Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania, 10-0, as Max McCrary pitched six shutout innings, striking out five and yielding four hits. Stuffel had a homer and three RBIs, while Valentin had three hits. Valentin and Smith drove in two runs apiece.
Friday, Post 280 blanked Frederick 10-0 in five innings as Thomas Wolfe pitched 4 2/3 innings, striking out eight, yielding just two hits and working around six walks.
Whitehurst was 3 for 3 with two runs, Stuffel was 2 for 4 with two runs and an RBI, and Mason homered, scored two runs and drove in two.
At the state level, Chesapeake overcame the Leesburg Post 34 Rangers 2-1 in Arlington for the title behind the pitching of Brendan Hawley and Bobby Loper. Stuffel was 2 for 2 with an RBI.
In an earlier key game, Post 280 beat Leesburg 11-9 behind Smith’s four RBIs and two hits apiece by Trent Holland and Mason.
