PLYMOUTH – Plymouth’s Post 27 Diamond Spyders were hoping to make it a clean sweep, but Bristol Post 143 had other ideas as they came from behind to take a 12-11 win in the bottom of the ninth and force a second and deciding game for the American Legion Regional title at Bill Nixon Field. Plymouth led for most of the game except at the end when it counted. Plymouth plated four in the third but surrendered the lead immediately to Bristol giving back five runs in the bottom half with two outs. The Spyders came back with three in the fourth and held that lead into the ninth when the wheels fell off in the bottom half of the inning. “Of all the ways to give it away there we found a way that wasn’t good for anything for us,” said Plymouth manager Will Hostrawser. “I’ve got to give Bristol a lot of credit – they don’t have a lot of pitching left and all their kids did a great job swinging the bats, even the kids off the bench.” “They had the meat of their order up and Myles (Jageman) has been very good in those situations for us. That first base hit was well struck, we had a few miscues a few walks a few hit batters and before you know it…” Plymouth took an 11-8 lead into the ninth. Luke Simon led off with a single, Gavin Coughnour followed with a ball that just passed Brogan Briggs outstretched glove and was corralled in the infield by a diving Benji Nixon for a single. An error, two walks and two hit batters ended the game. “We made a few defensive miscues and they took advantage of that,” said Hostrawser. “Luckily we have another day and we have to come out and take advantage of that.” Brogan Briggs the Plymouth starter ran into big trouble in the sixth, but reliever Mike Machinic took over and used a stellar defensive play from Braydon Davidson to escape further damage. When Machinic struggled it was Jageman who took over to end the eighth. Catcher Matt Pritz had a stellar game with three RBI’s and a pair of doubles at the plate. Machinic had a double and three RBI’s, both players continuing their outstanding play in entire tournament. “The thing I liked was the emotion our team showed after,” said Hostrawser. “A lot of times guys just clam up and want to get out of here. They were not happy. Not at one another but with the result. I hope they show up tomorrow (Monday) hungry. We have to realize this is a new day. Nine innings is a lot of baseball. You have a lot of opportunities across nine innings and it’s not over until it’s over.” The emotional loss will be the coach’s job to overcome for Monday with a 7 p.m start for all the marbles. “They (Bristol) came back in the bottom of the ninth down three and that’s a big hill to climb,” said Hostrawser. “But it’s something I hope our kids realize they can do too if the situation presents itself. “We’ll take BP tomorrow we’ll get somebody on the hill and we’ll play. That’s what we do.” LINESCORE Post 27 0 0 4 3 0 0 0 4 0 11-12-3 Post 143 0 0 5 0 0 1 0 2 4 12-15-2 WP – Gavin Coughnour. LP – Myles Jageman. HR – Pinarski. 2B – Nickell (B), Pritz 2 (P), Machinic (P), Davidson (P). Plymouth Post 27 7, Highland Post 180 2 Braydon Davidson was the game as Plymouth’s Post 27 Diamond Spyders claimed a spot in the Regional final with a 4-2 win over Highland Post 180 7-2. “The last couple of outings that he’s had his command has been incredible and his demeanor in the dugout – he’s really focused and that’s something that he models for some of the younger kids on our team,” said Plymouth manager Will Hostrawser. “He’s a brutal competitor when he gets on the mound. He wants the ball in big games. He had three different pitches working today. I think that (Matt) Pritz did a great job calling the game, keeping hitters off stride, and we played some pretty good defense behind him.” Davidson took a no hitter into the seventh and only lost the shut out in the ninth, throwing 112 pitches in the complete game win. Davidson’s final line was two runs on just four hits, six strikeouts, no walks and one hit batter. Brogan Briggs had four hits and a pair of RBI’s in the game, Billy Harness had three hits and an RBI scoring three times “Getting a solid outing by Braydon like that we still have a lot on the shelf that we’ve not had to send out there yet,” said Hostrawser. “It’s great to have options. We’re starting to gel and play together. We’ve got a lot at stake here.” LINESCORE Post 180 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2-6-4 Post 27 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 4 x 7-13-0 WP – Davidson. LP – Kinley. 2B – Cullers (P).
