Father & Son Legion team falls in regional final

EDISON - Heading into this week's action at the Senior Legion Northeast Regional Tournament in Vermont, the Father & Son team of Edison American Legion Post 435 was just two wins shy of advancing to the Legion World Series in Oklahoma.

On Monday, they got within one game of the Series by beating Brockton, Mass., 10-8, before their hopes were dashed in the regional final with a 12-8 loss to Branford, Conn., Monday night.

The local team, which didn't even qualify for the Middlesex County championship game before catching fire in the state tournament, actually held a 6-3 lead over Branford in the championship game, only to see the Connecticut team erupt with a six-run inning in the bottom of the fourth, with the big blow coming on a grand slam. Father & Son kept fighting back, but simply ran out of firepower in the end, falling to Branford for the second time in the tournament, after losing 12-5 on Friday.

Center fielder Alberto Ruiz had three RBIs for the Edison team in the loss.

The squad's run to the finals was a bit of a roller-coaster ride. It began with the Edison team beating Brockton, 7-3, in their opener on Aug. 16. After falling behind 3-0 after the first three innings, Father & Son put seven runs across in the sixth inning thanks to five errors and a pair of walks in the frame. The seven runs were more than enough for starting pitcher Gary Thompson. Thompson went all nine innings for the 7-3 victory. The MVP of the state tournament scattered nine hits and allowed just one earned run while fanning five batters. In his last 25-plus innings, he issued a remarkable zero walks.

"He's been working ahead in counts and commanding all three of his pitches," Banos said. "He's been able to throw his off-speed pitches in any count and that has kept hitters off-balance."

After falling to Branford, 12-5, on Friday, the Edison team beat Manchester, N.H., 9-7 on Saturday, as designated hitter Bryan Elvina went 2-for-2 with a double and Kevin Ryan finished the game 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs to lead Father & Son.

Much like it did in its other tournament wins, Father & Son put together a strong inning that proved too much for the opposition. In this one, it was a six-run seventh, thanks to five walks issued by the Manchester staff, that proved to be the difference.

That set up a match-up with Warwick Post 43 of Rhode Island, in what would prove to be among the most dramatic games of the tournament, as some ninth-inning heroics gave Father & Son a 10-9 win over Warwick Sunday evening.

Edison Post 435 cashed in on some defensive miscues courtesy of Warwick Post 43 to have a shot at the regional title.

"It was an unbelievable finish," Father & Son head coach Tim Banos said. "It was like something from the movie 'Angels in the Outfield.' "

Down a run in the eighth inning, Father & Son plated Rob Rubenstein to even the score at 9-9 when the Warwick centerfielder dropped a routine fly ball with two outs.

In the ninth, the team took advantage of another timely error to win the game. Tim Lowe's ground ball was fielded cleanly by the Warwick shortstop, but an error from the Warwick first baseman put Lowe at second base. Father & Son's Ryan stepped up to bunt Lowe over to third but was safe at first on a throwing error. With runners at the corners, Dylan Laguna ended the game with a walk-off single plating Lowe and the winning run.

Nick Reider picked up the win in relief of Julian Laguna. Both pitched over four innings of work.

"I always tell the kids that good teams take advantage of other teams' mistakes," Banos said. "It is something we've done all season."

In Monday's win over Brockton, Thompson was strong once again, going the distance and striking out seven while scattering 11 hits, one walk and four earned runs. Tim Lowe broke the game open for Edison with a two-run double in the fifth, giving his team a 5-2 edge, while Laguna had three hits and two RBIs, and David Zavistoski added three hits.