A year after winning the first state championship in 50 years, West Hartford’s American Legion Post 96 baseball team repeated as state champions.

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Coach Sean McCann with veteran U-19 players after winning the state championship. Courtesy photo

By Paul Palmer

Grit and determination is what has defined the 19-under West Hartford American Legion Post 96 baseball team all season.

“To their credit,” said head coach Sean McCann, “some of these guys are working jobs and racing to get to games and they bring it all in their commitment.” That commitment paid off  Friday night as Post 96 won two games in the stifling heat and then rain to defend its state title, 4-2, against Danbury..

The team did not make it easy on themselves in the double-elimination tournament. It was Danbury that sent them to the losers bracket last Saturday, putting Post 96 one loss away from elimination. “We didn’t panic when we lost to Danbury and went to the losers bracket,” McCann said. “ We didn’t fear any team  and we didn’t panic. It was motivating to say we are not done yet.”

Facing elimination, McCann’s team beat Ridgefield and then Enfield earlier in the week to get to Friday’s semi-final against Enfield. A 10-4 win there put them into the final against Danbury – which also had one loss in the tournament. That meant that the championship would be decided in a single, winner-take-all showdown.

“We see a lot of each other,” McCann said of Danbury. “So it’s become a rivalry type atmosphere.”

Danbury got to Post 96 starter Brendan Grady for one run in the first, but West Hartford rebounded with a pair in the third to take the lead. After surrendering that first run, Grady settled down and made it tough for the Danbury hitters to time his pitches.

Post 96 used the same formula it has employed all year to take that two-run lead. A combination of patience at the plate, small ball, and well-timed steals resulted in the two scores. Trevor Tanis walked and stole second, Matt Santoro would single and Chase Hanawalt worked a walk. John Kane then smacked a 3-2 pitch for a two-RBI single. It stayed that way until Danbury managed to tie things at 2 in the fourth – and that would be the last run Post 96 would allow in the game.

Trevor Tanis (left, with head coach Sean McCann) was named MVP of the American Legion Connecticut State Tournament. Courtesy photo

In the bottom of the sixth, West Hartford used timely hitting to load the bases and score twice more. Grady led off with a walk, before Owen Ludgin and Tristan Baron were hit by pitches. Then with one out, Calvin Cianflone delivered  the go-ahead RBI.

On the mound, Grady went five and two-thirds innings with six strikeouts before turning things over to Ludgin who shut down Danbury over the final one and a third innings, getting the final out on a ground ball to shortstop Myles Fournier.

“We have five guys (Declan McCann, Grady, Baron, Santoro, and  Tanis) that came back in hopes of doing this. They didn’t like how it felt (losing in Northeast Regional) last year. This is their final year with us, “ McCann said of his leaders, who will age out after this season.

West Hartford American Legion Post 96 U-19 team. Photo credit: Eric Mallinson

Next up for Post 96 – now 24-4 on the season – is a trip to Manchester, NH, and the same Northeast Regional along with teams from Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. They will meet the Rhode Island State Champs from Cumberland in the double elimination tournament on Wednesday at Gill Stadium.

The winner of the Northeast Regional earns a trip to the American Legion World Series which begins on Aug. 15 in Shelby, NC.

For players and coaches that sweated it out all summer to earn their place, McCann said “going to NC would be like going to Hawaii for us!”

West Hartford American Legion Post 96 U-19 team. Courtesy photo

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