MCHENRY — Fort Cumberland Post 13 opened the local American Legion season with a 3-2 win over Garrett County Post 71/208/214 on Thursday at Garrett College.
“It was a great start to the season,” Fort Cumberland manager Brian McAlpine said. “I thought we had a lot of nice hits. We fielded the ball rather well. Peyton (Blocher) hadn’t played all year, a couple of those plays out in right field were pretty nice.”
Offensively, it was all or nothing in scoring for both teams.
Post 13 (1-0 Mountain District) scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning.
With two outs, Myles Bascelli (Allegany High) hit a hard liner to center for an RBI knock.
“It seemed to me, the first time through the lineup everybody was out in front,” McAlpine said. “Wasn’t waiting back, anxious, wanting to get the season going I guess. Once we settled down, told them to stay back, wait on the ball and drive it. It seemed after the first time through, we started hitting the ball.”
Bascelli had two of Fort Cumberland’s seven hits.
“Good ball game, for kids not playing for a while, I thought neither team played real rusty,” Garrett County manager Phil Carr said. “Pitching was good on both sides. Going into the fourth inning, we played 18 minutes of baseball.”
Coye Resh (Fort Hill) worked a walk, setting up Dane VanSlyke (Mountain Ridge) for a two-run single up the middle.
Garrett (0-1) responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.
With two on, Cole Folk (Northern) drove in a run on a base hit past the shortstop.
A fielder’s choice off the bat of Landon Yoder (Northern) cut it to 3-2.
“We had four guys that hadn’t played at all since last year,” Carr said. “We had four older guys that didn’t play college ball, so it took them a while. When you’re facing one of the best pitchers in the area, it takes some time to get your timing up.”
After combining for one baserunner in the first three innings, the teams combined to strand nine runners in the final four.
Fort Cumberland’s Kohen Madden (Alco) went six innings, striking out six against two runs on five hits and two walks.
“He’s a bulldog, that’s Kohen Madden,” McAlpine said. “He’ll get out of most situations. Plus our defense, our defense played really well.”
Colt Resh (Fort Hill) got the save, tossing a scoreless seventh inning.
Yoder pitched seven innings, striking out four against three runs on seven hits and three walks.
“We were a little careful with Landon because he threw 30 pitches on Tuesday at the All-Star Game,” Carr said. “We weren’t running him up to 105, but we were gonna get him to 95, 96 and that was gonna be it for him.”
Yoder played in the Classic All-Star Game by the MSABC (Maryland State Association of Baseball Coaches).
Ryan Bird (Southern) posted two of Garrett’s five hits.
Garrett County won last season’s Mountain District, finishing 18-7-1 overall and reached the state tournament for the first time since 2021.
Fort Cumberland returns nearly its entire roster from last season, only featuring three new additions.
“We were very young,” McAlpine said. “Basically the same team, I picked up a few new players. We’re very deep with pitching. Have some arm issues right now, but once everyone’s back I’m very deep with pitching.”
Post 13 finished 2-10 and 2-8 in district play after winning the Maryland state tournament the two previous seasons.
Fort Cumberland plays the Martinsburg Blue Sox at Musselman High on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Post 13 faces Garrett on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Hammer Complex.