Delaware Post One makes history, wins American Legion World Series

Austin Colmery singled home Michael Cautillo from second base with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday night to give Delaware Post One a 1-0 victory over Las Vegas (Nevada) Post 40 in the championship game of the American Legion World Series at Keeter Stadium in Shelby, North Carolina.

Post One (40-4) became the first Delaware team to win the American Legion World Series, which has been held since 1926. The last Delaware team to qualify for the tournament had been New Castle’s Stahl Post in 1976. The only team from the First State to previously win games at the event was also Stahl Post, which reached the semifinals in 1967.

A Delaware team did win the Babe Ruth World Series in the 16-18 age division in 1983 in Newark, Ohio.

The Post One roster is comprised of 16- to 19-year-old players from the Pike Creek and Hockessin areas. The team swept through the Delaware American Legion State Tournament, then won the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament in Purcellville, Virginia, to reach the World Series.

Tuesday night’s championship game was a classic pitching duel between Post One’s Chris Ludman and Las Vegas Post 40’s Josh Sharman. Both hurlers cruised through seven innings of regulation play, each allowing only three hits.

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But the left-handed Sharman reached the 105-pitch limit at the end of the bottom of the seventh, and Las Vegas went to 6-foot-3, 220-pound Aaron Roberts in relief in extra innings. The right-hander’s 90-plus mph fastball was a huge change from Sharman’s steady diet of offspeed pitches, but Post One quickly found a way to break the scoreless tie.

Cautillo, a Salesianum graduate who will play at the University of Delaware next season, walked to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Ludman advanced him to second with a pinch-hit sacrifice bunt, and Colmery, a St. Mark’s grad, singled up the middle. Cautillo rounded third and slid headfirst into home to barely beat the tag of Las Vegas catcher Parker Schmidt and set off a wild celebration.

Ludman, a St. Mark’s grad who became UD’s No. 3 starter as a freshman, was brilliant on the mound. The right-hander pitched eight scoreless innings to run his total to 15 shutout innings in the World Series. Ludman allowed four hits without a walk and struck out three.

In Post One’s World Series opener last Thursday, Ludman pitched a three-hitter with five strikeouts in a 3-0 victory over Dubuque (Iowa) Post 137.

Other members of the Post One team are Marshall Awtry (Conrad/Goldey-Beacom), Ryan Bradigan (Conrad/Wilmington U.), Matt Danz (Delaware Military Academy/Wilmington U.), Jack Dubecq (St. Mark’s/Delaware), Tim Glavin (Wilmington Christian/Cedarville University in Ohio), Jon Golebiowski (Delaware Military Academy/Wilmington U.), Eric Ludman (St. Mark’s), Jacob Meisel (St. Mark’s), Nick Muzzi (St. Mark’s), Matt Poma (Salesianum/Eastern University), Nate Thomas (St. Elizabeth/St. Joseph’s), J.T. Tomovich (St. Mark’s/Delaware) and Ryan Williams (Wilmington Christian/Delaware).

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ