HANOVER — Hitting is contagious, and there was a full-blown pandemic in the Fort Cumberland dugout in the first inning Monday.
With one-time Old Dominion commit Ayden McCauley on the bump for Sharptown, Post 13 tagged the right hander for five consecutive hits to begin the game — the most consequential a two-run double by Kohen Madden down the left-field line.
Fort Cumberland scored in three of its first four at-bats to build an 8-1 lead, and Colt Resh threw 5 1/3 solid frames on the mound to guide Post 13 to an 8-5 victory over Sharptown Post 218 on Day 4 of the Maryland American Legion state tournament at Joe Cannon Stadium.
“Yesterday we had so many watched-third-strikes. In the meetings last night, we talked about being more aggressive at the plate,” Fort Cumberland manager Brian McAlpine said. “That boy was throwing the ball in the zone, and they jumped on it.”
The victory propelled Fort Cumberland (14-6) into the final day of the state tournament Tuesday, where it will need to defeat Funkstown Post 211 (25-7) twice for the title.
Post 13 — which has won three straight elimination games after dropping their opening bout Friday — has advanced to the championship game in four of the last five years, winning it all in 2023 and ’24.
Fort Cumberland trailed 1-0 before its first at-bat, but Sharptown didn’t lead for much longer.
Cole Ricker and Colt Resh began the rally with back-to-back singles before Madden’s two-bagger. Myles Bascelli followed with an RBI knock, and, following a single by Dane Van Slyke, Bryson Krumpach made it 4-1 Post 13 with a sacrifice fly.
Madden tacked on a run with a sac fly in the second, Van Slyke garnered an RBI single in the fourth, and Ricker gave Fort Cumberland an 8-1 lead on a two-RBI single in the fifth.
Fort Cumberland finished with a 12-5 edge in hits, and Ricker led the way going 3 for 3 with two RBIs, a run and a stolen base.
“It was like a balloon coming in there,” Ricker said of what the ball looked like at the plate. “Just looking for something hard to hit.”
Madden drove in three runs, Colt Resh scored twice, and Bascelli and Van Slyke had two base hits each.
Resh controlled his fastball from the start and held Sharptown (13-3) to just one run on a hit over his first five innings.
Sharptown got its bats going in the fifth, pulling within 8-5 after a two-RBI hit by Kane Nibblett and run-scoring singles by Nathan Feather (Virginia Wesleyan commit) and Desi Brown.
Fort Cumberland turned to its right-handed submarine reliever Brady Moran (Allegany College) with one out and a runner in scoring position, and Moran twirled a pop out and a groundout to strand two.
Moran needed just four pitches to retire Sharptown in the seventh to register the save.
Resh picked up the win with a final line of five runs (three earned) on five hits with two strikeouts and a walk in 5 1/3 frames of work.
“Fastball was working great,” the right-hander said. “Couldn’t really find my change-up, my curveball. It was spinning very low. So I was just looking at the fastball. He was calling it on the outside.”
Fort Cumberland’s defense made just one error and its duo of Madden (shortstop) and Ricker (second base) up the middle made every play asked of them, most notably a 4-6-3 double play to get out of a jam in the fourth.
“Kohen and I have been playing together for a long time,” Ricker said. “We’ve got a lot of chemistry, turning double plays and stuff like that since we were young.”
McCauley took the loss for Sharptown, surrendering six runs on 10 hits in four innings with a strikeout and no walks.
Sharptown’s Feather and Nibblett had two RBIs each, and Manny Reyes doubled.
Fort Cumberland now faces 10-time state champion Funkstown on Tuesday at 10 a.m., where it will need to defeat the Skunks twice.
Post 13 bench coach Pat “Gooch” Brode is a former assistant coach with Funkstown.
“It’s been a total team effort,” McAlpine said. “Everybody on the team has participated and has done something major in a game. I’m proud of them. The bonding they’re making is just making the team stronger.
“I think the experience of this tournament, they’ve really come together as a group. They do everything together now. It’s great to watch, great to listen to them in the meetings.”