WORLD SERIES BOUND: Hudson Post 100 wins the Northeast, continues historic season

By
Evan Walsh
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WORLD SERIES BOUND: Hudson Post 100 wins the Northeast, continues historic season
(L-R) Connor Madden, Bobby Long Jr., and Teddy McFarland celebrate Hudson Post 100 pulling ahead. (Photo/Evan Walsh)

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Hudson Post 100 thought it was riding high when the team won four straight games toward the start of the season.

But winning Zone 4 for the first time in program history? That sounded challenging. Reaching the state championship in Worcester? That seemed even less likely. And advancing and winning the regional tournament – defeating powerhouses from throughout New England – that’s something that Hudson Post 100 couldn’t dream of. Right?

Wrong. In a monumental victory, Hudson Post 100 won the American Legion Northeast Tournament on Aug. 11, officially qualifying for the American Legion World Series in Shelby, N.C., next week. Post 100 won 15-9 over Cumberland (R.I.) at Gill Stadium in Manchester, N.H., to finish the regional tournament undefeated and continue the team’s historic season.

“When we were 4-0, my kids asked me if, in my wildest dreams, we’d ever get here. I honestly told them, I said, ‘No.’ The goal was to get to states, and then after that, we would see what happened … The boys played their butts off and won five games. I can’t even put into words [how proud of this team I am]. There are no words for it. This group is incredible. They’re everything that’s right about Hudson baseball,” Hudson Head Coach Ryan Bowen told the Community Advocate after the game. Bowen, dripping wet and standing beside a pile of ice on the turf field, had just gotten drenched in celebration.

 

Hudson players – unfazed by the high-stakes, championship atmosphere – got right to work at the plate. Post 100 pulled ahead 6-0 after a second-inning rally in which seven straight hitters reached base safely. But the momentum was soon lost: Cumberland answered with five runs in the next inning to make the game 6-5; the Rhode Island-champion squad tied the game in the fourth.

But Post 100 pulled ahead again in the bottom half of the fourth inning, and the rally came from an unlikely source. Bobby Long Jr. – a 2023 Hudson High School graduate – was hit by a pitch to open the inning. Over the course of the game, Long (0 for 0, 2BB) was hit by two more pitches. This wasn’t the first time Long had been plunked more than once – he was hit three times in a state tournament game against Hingham, for instance – and while he doesn’t step into the batter’s box looking to get hit, Long said he’s more than willing to get nailed if it means he can generate more traffic on the basepaths.

Long was the first of two Hudson runs to score in the fourth inning. Post 100 led 8-6.

“When a pitch is coming towards me, I don’t move because I know how big it can be. In that inning where we scored all those runs, I knew I just needed to get on base,” Long said.

But Hudson’s fourth-inning offensive outburst still wasn’t enough to hold off Cumberland, which once again rallied back in an effort to save its season. The team plated three runs in the top of the sixth to take a 9-8 lead. Hudson found itself in an uncomfortably familiar position: the team had to come from behind.

Come-from-behind kids

A few words of caution to Hudson’s future American Legion World Series opponents, who will come from seven other regions throughout the U.S. to compete in North Carolina from Aug. 15 to Aug. 20: Don’t rest on your laurels, don’t celebrate too soon, and don’t, under any circumstances, count your chickens before they hatch. This Post 100 squad has – in a fashion that’s as enthralling as it is distressing – pulled off improbable comebacks. Truly, it’s never over until it’s over when playing Hudson.

Having already lost one game in the double-elimination Massachusetts tournament, Zone 4 champion Post 100 was one strike away from being defeated once more. Matt Gogan fouled off a couple pitches, drew a walk, and in extra innings, Hudson rallied for a walk-off victory. In another do-or-die game two days later, Post 100 found itself down 8-0 after the first inning; the team stormed back in later innings, earning a walk-off, 9-8 victory that sent the team to the state tournament championship.

 

Tired from three straight days of win-or-go-home baseball, Hudson dropped the championship contest to Shrewsbury Post 397. Even after the deflating loss, Hudson showed impressive resolve in the American Legion Northeast Tournament, getting locked in tight, narrow games, but somehow managing to come out ahead every time. The team went 5-0 in the tournament, but trailed at one point in every single game. All but one of Hudson’s Northeast games were decided by one run.

So, after a season’s worth of hard-won games, finding the strength to rally back against Cumberland was never in question. Long was plunked (again) to start the bottom of the sixth inning, and his team went on a two-out rally of epic proportions, scoring seven runs to pull ahead 15-9. Nine straight batters reached base: Dan Demirjian’s RBI single plated the tying run, Peter Ward’s double scored the go-ahead run, and, after two walks, Anthony Moura hit a bases-clearing, 3-RBI double that put the game out of reach.

WORLD SERIES BOUND: Hudson Post 100 wins the Northeast, continues historic season
Bobby Long Jr. (left) checks in with pitcher Michael Atwater. (Photo/Evan Walsh)

It was another one of Post 100’s signature comebacks. This time, though, it won them the regional championship.

“Whether it’s two strikes, two outs, seventh inning – whatever it is, their approach doesn’t change,” said Bowen. “It’s the reason why we’re advancing now. They stuck to that approach all year, and if they didn’t, we would not be in this spot.”

“It’s confidence. It comes down to confidence. Confidence from everyone … It comes down to our coach having confidence in each and every one of us. It’s us picking up each other no matter what situation we’re in. Yes, being down is never fun. But, I guess you could say we look at it as fun and have a good time with it,” said Hudson’s Chase Donahue, who earned tournament MVP honors.

The players now call themselves the “Cardiac Kids,” escaping with wins like a Hudson Houdini act. Though Bowen in previous interviews with the Community Advocate joked that it would be less stressful if the team simply pulled out to an early lead and kept it, the come-from-behind mentality has become the very fabric of Post 100’s identity.

 

“We’re just as high as we can be. It’s kind of hard to put into words … We came in here not really knowing what to expect, but we got on a roll. We did a lot of things right, we had a lot of bounces that went our way, and even when things didn’t go our way, we still stuck with it. I’m just so proud of this group,” Long said.

“It’s crazy. No words,” said Ward.

As the team heads to Shelby, N.C., to compete for the American Legion World Series title, players and coaches appeared confident. The group will hope to leverage its experience – Post 100 has 18 players, only one of which (Moura) is younger than a rising senior – into a deep run in the World Series. More than that, though, the team will continue to work together and press ahead to continue Hudson Post 100’s historic season.

WORLD SERIES BOUND: Hudson Post 100 wins the Northeast, continues historic season
Hudson’s Michael Atwater fires a pitch toward home plate. (Photo/Evan Walsh)

Even if it includes a few more heart-stopping, come-from-behind victories.

“It feels amazing. We just came together as a team this year and worked so hard for it. We’ve been playing together since we were nine years old, most of us … The coaches have done so much for me and my teammates. It’s an unreal appearance,” said Long.

 

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