ALTON - The Alton Post 126 American Legion baseball team didn't have the Legion playoffs to look forward to, as the national Legion cancelled their season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the Legionnaires did what no other team has been able to do in the history of the program.
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Win its final game.
And win it they did, overcoming a 6-1 loss to Highland earlier in the day to defeat Troy 9-7 to win its own season-ending tournament at Lloyd Hopkins Field at Gordon Moore Park.
Although the Legionnaires were looking to sweep the tournament, taking two of three, and ending its shortened season with three wins in the final four games, and four of the last five, excluding a rainout Tuesday night against Piasa Southwestern, wasn't too bad either.
"We wanted to go 3-0 to finish it, but we didn't get it," said Alton manager Doug Booten. "Both Highland and Troy are good opponents, and we were able to win the last game of the season and the tournament championship."
The finale against Troy was particularly a good game, as the Legionnaires came from behind to put up seven runs in the fifth to take the win and the championship.
"It was an exciting game, and I'm glad we were able to win it," Booten said. "I'd describe it as one word: Guts."
It was a trademark of the 2020 Legionnaires, even when they were down, the team kept grinding and stayed with it, never giving up and kept on playing as hard as possible.
"They're a fun team to coach," Booten said. "I said from the beginning that if we could play baseball, we'd play baseball, and we found a way to play baseball."
In that seven-run rally that decided the game, Booten pointed out that it was a team effort, just the way his players approached the games all season.
"The one way to describe it is that it took the whole team to score those seven runs," Booten said. "it wasn't just the players on the field. The players on the bench contributed in some way or fashion."
In the opener against Highland, the visitors struck first with a run in the opening inning before the Legionnaires tied it in the fourth. However, Highland scored three times in the fifth and twice more in the sixth for five unanswered runs to take the win.
Cullen McBride went two-for-three to lead Alton, and had the team's only RBI in the game. Trenton Segarra, Gage Booten and Owen Macias also had the Legionnaire's other hits in the first game.
McBride was the starting pitcher, and threw well, allowing eight hits and four runs, none of them earned, in four-and-two-thirds innings, walking four and striking out five. Tyler Steward, who was one of the pitching staff's aces all season, pitched one inning, allowing two runs on one hit, walking two and fanning one, while Andrew Wieneke threw the final inning-and-a-third, walking one and striking out two.
Alton had the only error of the game, stranding seven, while Highland left 13 runners on.
In the nightcap, Troy jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening inning, but the Legionnaires scored single runs in both the second and third to cut the lead to 5-2. Troy scored twice in the top of the fifth to make it 7-2, but Alton exploded for its seven runs in the bottom of the inning to produce the 9-7 final.
Segarra had two hits in the finale, while McBride, Booten, Macias, Preston Schepers, Steward and Blaine Lancaster also collected hits for Alton. Macias' hit was a big one, a three-run homer in the fifth, the only home run of the season for the Legionnaires, while McBride also drove home three runs, and both Stilts and Booten each had single RBIs.
Bryce Higginbotham started, but couldn't get anyone out in his time of the mound, allowing four hits and five runs, four earned, while walking one. Tyler Hanslow took over and pitched the rest of the way, allowing two runs on seven hits while fanning eight.
Alton left only one runner on base, while Troy stranded seven in the game.
It was a very memorable season for the Legionnaires, who overcame a very rough start in May to go on an 11-game winning streak, taking 12 of 13 games, in June before slumping at the start of July, recovering to take four of the last five games. The senior team will lose many of its players, but the junior team has some players ready to step up and continue the winning tradition of Post 126.
"We are going to lose seven kids from this roster," Booten said, "and the kids from the junior team will have to fill their shoes. And I think we've got the kids to do it."
In the meantime, Booten will always have very fond memories of a very successful season despite tremendous difficulties, and the kids who played for him.
"They're great kids," Booten said. "I'll never forget them."
