West Hartford beat Danbury on Friday night at Palmer Field to win their second straight American Legion state championship. (Photo courtesy Connecticut American Legion baseball)
The West Hartford American Legion baseball team scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning to beat Danbury, 4-2, on Friday night at Palmer Field in Middletown to capture their second straight state championship.
Post 96 won four consecutive elimination games in the double-elimination portion of the 19-and-under tournament to win the state title and advance to the Northeast Regional that begins Wednesday at Gill Stadium in Manchester, N.H. It was the eighth Legion state championship in program history for West Hartford
West Hartford (23-4) won twice on Friday. Post 96 rapped out 12 hits to eliminate Middletown, 10-4 to get a chance to play for a championship. Chase Hanawalt was 3-for-3 with two RBI for West Hartford with Jack Kane, Brendan Grady and Declan McCann each getting two hits.
West Hartford led 5-2 before scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for some additional breathing room. Pitcher Nolan Wusterbarth went six innings on the hill, allowing six hits and striking out one.
That set up a rematch with Danbury, the only team to hand West Hartford a defeat in the state tournament and the same team that West Hartford beat a year ago in the title game. West Hartford, which won the Zone 1 championship, went 7-1 in this year’s state tournament.
Tied at 2-2, West Hartford loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a walk and two batters being hit by a pitch.
Reliever Nicholas Petta struck out West Hartford’s Trevor Tanis for the first out of the inning but Grady stole home from third base to give Post 96 a one-run lead, 3-2. Pinch hitter Calvin Cianflone singled to center field that drove in Owen Ludgin from second base for a 4-2 lead.
After a second strikeout, Matt Santoro walked to load the bases again but Petta got a strikeout to end the inning.
In the top of the seventh, Ludgin gave up two singles and Danbury had runners on first and second base with two outs. But he got Giani Chieffalo ground out to shortstop to secure the championship for West Hartford.
Danbury (16-8) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a RBI double from Chris Humphreys.
West Hartford took the lead in the third inning. Tanis led off the inning with a walk before Danbury starter Mason Rodriguez picked up consecutive strikeouts. But a walk to Santoro and a single from Hanawalt loaded the bases.
Jack Kane’s two-out single to center field drove in two runs to give Post 96 a 2-1 lead.
Danbury tied the game in the fourth thanks to a walk, a sacrifice fly and a RBI double from Matt Wallin.
Tanis was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. It was Danbury’s third straight appearance in the state finals. They won their first-ever title in 2022 with a 2-0 sweep over Waterford in a best-of-3 series before getting swept by West Hartford a year ago, 2-0.
West Hartford became the first team to win consecutive state championships since RCP (Rocky Hill/Cromwell/Portland) won two in a row in 2015 and 2016. They are the only programs win consecutive state titles in the last 32 years. West Hartford did win three consecutive state Legion championships from 1959-61.
This was the eighth state championship in program history for West Hartford, which also won Legion championships in 1941, 1944, 1959-61, 1973, 2023 and 2024.
West Hartford 10, Middletown 4
At Middletown
Middletown (23-6) 000 101 2 — 4-8-2
West Hartford (22-4) 310 105 x — 10-12-0
Blake Kamoen, Jackson Pray (3) and Andrew Quinn; Nolan Wusterbarth, Owen Ludgin (7) and Trevor Tanis, Sean Fay (7); WP: Wusterbarth; LP: Kamoen; 2B: Luke Mari (M), Preston Mennone (M); Calvin Cianflone (WH), Chase Hanawalt (WH), Jack Kane (WH), Matt Santoro (WH)
Championship game
West Hartford 4, Danbury 2
At Middletown
Danbury (16-8) 100 100 0 — 2-8-1
West Hartford (23-4) 002 002 x — 4-5-0
Mason Rodriguez, Nicholas Petta (6) and Matthew Morehouse; Brendan Grady, Owen Ludgin (6) and Trevor Tanis; WP: Grady; LP: Rodriguez; Save: Ludgin; 2B: Chris Humphrey (D), Matthew Wallin (D)
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