PURCELVILLE, VIRGINIA- Flemington Post 159 has rallied so many times this season to win baseball games, and tournaments. Sunday, the Indians, who had already won an earlier game to make the American Legion Mid-Atlantic Regional final, found themselves on the other end of a late comeback. This time, it was the host team Leesburg that broke the hearts of...
PURCELVILLE, VIRGINIA- Flemington Post 159 has rallied so many times this season to win baseball games, and tournaments.
Sunday, the Indians, who had already won an earlier game to make the American Legion Mid-Atlantic Regional final, found themselves on the other end of a late comeback. This time, it was the host team Leesburg that broke the hearts of the Flemington team, just two outs from a trip to the 2016 American Legion World Series.
Leesburg scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to stun Flemington 4-3, and it is the team from Virginia that will advance to next week's tournament in Shelby, North Carolina.
Kurtis Meyer, who came in and got the win in relief of Cameron Eck, singled off of Austin Arndt to lead off the bottom of the ninth. But it was the next two batters, both of whom tried to give up an out via a sacrifice bunt, that did the damage. Griffin Butcavage's reached safely with his bunt, to give Leesburg (18-8) runners on first and second with no outs.
Jake Cunningham's bunt down the third base line was thrown away, allowing Meyer to score the tying run, and the runners to advance to second and third with no outs.
Matt Busher was summoned from the bullpen, but could only induce a fly ball from Matt Eberhart that was deep enough to right field to score Bowles, and set off the celebrations for the host team.
Flemington Post 159 wins again, advances to last day of Regional
"I think the kids were a little tired there at the end," Indians manager Steve Farsiou said. "The ball just bounced their way in that last inning. Baseball can break your heart at times, and this game was heartbreaking."
"To lose like that, knowing you were the better team, is tough," Farsiou said. "I have been coaching for 19 years, and that is the toughest loss I have ever had."
It was the end of an almost perfect comeback from an opening game loss at the regional. Flemington was dropped into the losers bracket on the first day of the tournament, with a 4-0 loss to Pennsylvania state champion Swoyersville. But the defeat seemed to bring out the best in the Indians.
A 4-1 win over the Delaware state champs got the Indians rolling, but that was just the start. Two back-to-back 10-run rule victories, 11-1 over the Pennsylvania runner-up Blackhawk and 10-0 over the Maryland champ Funksville gave the Indians a berth into Sunday's action.
Matt Busher comes up big again for Flemington Post 159
Sunday started as well as could be for Flemington, as it jumped out to a seven-run lead in the bottom of the second inning against Virginia champion Dansville. The Indians held on for a 9-5 win, and took the field a half hour after the first game for the finale.
Although they fell behind 2-0 in the bottom of the second, the Indians rallied for three runs in the top of the fifth inning to take the lead. But despite having runners in scoring position in the sixth, seventh, and ninth innings (with runners at third base in the seventh and ninth), the Flemington batters could not tack on that elusive insurance run.
"We had some chances to score there, but just couldn't get another run," Farsiou said."
"But these are great character kids on this team," Farsiou said. "They never let anything get to them. They just played in the moment each day. I can't say enough about this group. Some of them I have known for a long time, and they are more like younger brothers to me."
"It is very tough," Farsiou said. "I really wanted to win it for this group, and go to the World Series."
Flemington ends the season at 36-6, as the Pyramid League, District One, and New Jersey American Legion state champions, and Mid-Atlantic runner-up.
Contact Sean Miller at seanmillertrentontimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheProdigalSean