After a strong regular season in which Hudson’s Legion Prep team finished 16-3, 15-3 in District B play, Hudson made their way into the N.H. American Legion Baseball Prep State Tournament in Portsmouth. Hudson went 3-1 in the modified double-elimination tournament, earning their second consecutive Prep State Title, beating Lebanon before finding themselves in the loser’s bracket after a loss to Bedford, beating Salem Gold, and then getting revenge against Bedford in the finals.
While the tournament saw a washout of its opening games on Wednesday, Hudson made quick work of District A’s second-seeded Lebanon with a 10-0 beatdown in five innings. After a scoreless first inning, Hudson jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after Gavin Baviello singled to score Memphis Beach and give Hudson a 1-0 lead, then Cole Baker picked up an RBI ground out that scored Jackson Quinn to make it 2-0, and Holden Olsen reached on an error that allowed Baviello to score.
Hudson then tacked on more in the third, as, after back-to-back errors put Jasper Workman and PJ Millette on base, Memphis Beach tripled to center, scoring both Workman and Millette to give Hudson a 5-0 cushion. Beach would score two pitches later after Jackson Quinn bounced a ball back to the pitcher and the ball was thrown away. Quinn also scored later in the inning thanks to a Cole Baker RBI single to make it 7-0 Hudson through three innings.
In the fourth, Hudson added two more runs on a Memphis Beach two-RBI single and an error charged to the Lebanon third baseman that allowed Beach to score.
As far as pitching goes, Hudson proved that they were far more dominant than Lebanon, as Jasper Workman and PJ Millette combined to toss a one-hitter, a refrain that has been more common than not for Post 48’s pitching staff this summer. The pair struck out three and walked six on the night, but combined for the shutout with neither throwing more than 45 pitches.
On Friday, Hudson had a chance to move directly into the finals as they faced off against Bedford in the 4:30 game after Salem Gold, Hudson’s Achilles heel, beat Sweeney (Manchester) 13-3 in the 2:00 game to move on to the loser-bracket finals. Hudson had already faced District A’s top seed earlier in the season and beaten them 9-0 in Bedford back on July 16. Friday’s early game, however, would not be more of the same for Hudson as Bedford exploded for three runs in the first inning and five in the second off Hudson’s ace PJ Millette. Of the eight runs, six were earned as Millette allowed six hits while striking out four and walking five in four innings of work. The bright side was that Jackson Quinn, who relieved Millette, pitched three no-hit innings while striking out three and walking two Bedford hitters.
Jasper Workman picked up the lone RBI in what was tied for the worst loss of the season for Hudson on an RBI groundout that scored Holden Olsen in the first inning.
Post 48 was given a second chance, however, with a chance to even the season series at 2-2 with a win over Salem Gold. Salem’s “A-team” was the only team to boast a winning record against Hudson in the regular season, and Post 48 knew this fact and wanted nothing more than to show Salem that they were District B’s top dog.
Salem jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, as Hudson won the coin toss and elected to be the home team. An error charged to Jasper Workman allowed the first Salem run to score and a bases-loaded walk surrendered by Cam St. Clair gave Salem a 2-0 lead without the benefit of a hit in the first inning. Salem only picked up one hit all night.
In the bottom of the second, Hudson evened the game at 2-2 after Gavin Baviello drove in a run on a single to right and Jackson Quinn scored two batters later on a throwing error after Hudson attempted the first-and-third steal play, and the throw was sailed into the outfield.
The two squads engaged in a pitcher’s duel like no other until the top of the sixth inning when Salem Gold finally broke through, getting two runs on an error charged to Gavin Baviello that scored Brody Lyons and Mason Wiles to give Salem a 4-2 lead.
That lead would not last long, however, as, with a runner on second base after an error, Holden Olsen singled to right to cut the Salem lead to one, and then, three batters later, after Hudson loaded the bases with two out, Memphis Beach grounded a ball to short that resulted in a throwing error on Anthony Roman that allowed Cam St. Clair and Jasper Workman to score, giving Hudson a 5-4 lead that would stand throughout the remainder of the night, sending Hudson to the finals.
To wrap up the season, the 19-4 Post 48 team took on Post 54’s 16-3 team, whose only losses on the year came to Hudson or forfeit to Lebanon. Hudson sent Jasper Workman to the mound in their final game of the season, while Bedford turned to Jason Topf. Both pitchers were excellent as advertised with Topf going five innings allowing just one run while striking out four and dancing around eight walks. In most other games, Bedford would likely be running away with the score after an outing like that, but thankfully for Hudson, Jasper Workman was just as good, if not better on the night, as by the time Topf exited the ballgame, Hudson had a 1-0 lead thanks to a PJ Millette RBI double that brought Workman in to score. Workman had only allowed one hit to that point on the night.
In the sixth, having gotten Topf off the mound in favor of Cole Sufat, Hudson rallied to give Workman three more runs to work with on an Adam Willet RBI single, an error charged to Joey Suozzo that allowed Willet to score, and then an RBI single by PJ Millette that gave Hudson a 4-0 lead that would hold, giving Hudson a 4-0 win and their second consecutive NH American Legion Prep State Championship.
