Rockport, Crawfordsville to clash for Indiana American Legion state title

By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Rockport Post 254 and Crawfordsville Post 72 earned the right to clash for the title at the Indiana American Legion Baseball Senior State Finals with semifinal victories Monday, July 26 at CFD Investment Stadium at Highland Park in Kokomo.
Rockport (19-7 overall and 4-0 in the State Finals) came out of the winners’ bracket in the double-elimination event with a 10-7 win against Kokomo Post 6 (13-16-1) in Game 13.
Crawfordsville (20-11, 3-1) emerged from the losers’ bracket with a 9-5 triumph against Newburgh Post 44 (19-8) in Game 12.
Post 254 and Post 72 play at 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 27. Crawfordsville needs to win twice to take the championship and a Great Lakes Regional berth.
Rockport will be seeking its 11th state Senior Legion title and first since 2017 while Crawfordsville will go for its first crown. The tournament dates back to 1926.
The 2021 Senior State Finals also featured Muncie Post 19, South Bend Post 151, South Haven Post 502 and Valparaiso Post 94.

Semifinals
Rockport Post 254 10,
Kokomo Post 6 7
Scoring three runs each in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, Rockport snapped a 7-7 tie with a one-out run-scoring single to left field by 2021 Tell City High School graduate Wes Scamahorn that plated Jackson Raaf (South Spencer Class of 2022).
“It was one of those days when we were having a hard time getting inspired,” said Rockport manager Jim Haaf. “(Ashton Tindle’s deep, running) catch in the center field (in the sixth inning) got us going a little bit.
(Right-hander and 2021 Kokomo graduate Mason Keller) was pretty good with his breaking pitch today and that gave us a lot of trouble.”
A balk allowed Diond’re Jacob (Tell City Class of 2021) to tally Post 254’s ninth run and a sacrifice fly by Houston Compton (South Spencer Class of 2022) pushed across the 10th.
Leading Rockport’s 12-hit attack were Compton with three, Jacob, Tindle (South Spencer Class of 2022) and Jake Stuteville (South Spencer Class of 20210 with two each. Compton drove in three runs and Stuteville knocked home two. Jacob scored three runs while Scamahorn and Compton crossed the plate two times each.
Tanner Jennings (Tell City Class of 2022) pitched the last three innings and earned the victory. The right-hander gave up two runs and three hits while striking out three.
“We save some pitching for (Tuesday),” said Haaf. “We managed to keep it close.”
Kokomo, which led 5-1 after its first four at-bats, got three hits from Cameron Arcari (Eastern Class of 2021) and two from losing pitcher Jace Stoops (Twin Lakes Class of 2020) as well has two RBIs from Jacob Ward (Kokomo Class of 2021) and two runs scored from both Stoops and Taylor Duncan (Kokomo Class of 2021).
“We are more than tickled to be in the final three teams in the state,” said Post 6 manager Don Andrews. “I’ve been involved with Legion baseball since 2004 and this is the first time I can remember a team with a losing record in the Final Four, let alone the Final Three.”

Crawfordsville Post 72 9,
Newburgh Post 44 5
Post 72 broke a 4-4 deadlock with two runs in the top of the fourth inning and added two more in the sixth and one in the seventh.
A solo home run over the 25-foot high right field fence by Landen Southern (Clinton Prairie Class of 2021) put Crawfordsville ahead 5-4.
“We hit the ball well,” said Post 72 manager Kyle Proctor.
In the two-run sixth, George Valencia (Fountain Central Class of 2020 socked a two-run homer to right-center — just to the left of the high part of the wall.
Southern finished with four hits while Cade Walker (Seeger Class of 2021) had two and Valencia and Jacob Braun (North Montgomery Class of 2021) two apiece. Valencia drove in three and Braun 2. Southern scored three runs while Valencia and Braun tallied two apiece.
Winning pitcher Henry Taylor (Crawfordsville Class of 2021) went the first six innings. The right-hander whiffed three and walked three while yielding six hits and four runs.
Six different Newburgh players produced hits. Zach York (Evansville Harrison Class of 2022) lashed a two-run double left during a four-run uprising in the third inning. Losing pitcher David Schultz (Harrison Class of 2021) cracked a two-run single to center on the very next pitch.
“It was an awesome experience considering where we came from,” said Newburgh manager Joe Paulin.
After the COVID-19 pandemic took away the 2020 season and the previous coaching staff departed, it was a brand new team and staff for Newburgh in 2021.
“We started from scratch,” said Paulin. “We had tryouts and kept all 12 players. A lot of those guys didn’t even know each others’ names at the beginning of the season. Here we are tied for third in the state.”
Post 44 placed third behind Evansville Pate Post 265 and Terre Haute Post 346 in this year’s Junior State Finals.

INDIANA AMERICAN LEGION
SENIOR STATE FINALS
(At Kokomo)
Semifinals
(Losers’ Bracket)
CRAWFORDSVILLE POST 72 9,
NEWBURGH POST 44 5
Crawfordsville 004 202 1 — 9 14 2
Newburgh 004 000 1 — 5 6 1
Henry Taylor (W), Austin Motz (7); Hunter Lindsey, David Schultz (3, L), Evan Doan (7).
Crawfordsville: Hits — Landen Southern 4, Cade Walker 3, George Valencia 2, Jacob Braun 2, Taylor 1, Owen Gregg 1, Matthew Harris 1. HR — Southern, Valencia. RBI — Valencia 3, Braun 2, Southern 1, Taylor 1, Walker 1. Runs — Southern 3, Valencia 2, Braun 2, Gregg 1, Zach Fichter 1. SB — Valencia 1, Braun 1, Fichter 1. LOB — 9.
Newburgh: Hits — Schutlz 1, Lindsey 1, Evan Doan 1, Zach York 1, Logan Thomas 1, Keaton Holmes 1. 2B — York. RBI — York 2, Schultz 2. SB — Schultz 1. LOB — 7. T — 2:07.
Records: Crawfordsville 20-11, Newburgh 19-8.

(Winners’ Bracket)
ROCKPORT POST 254 10,
KOKOMO POST 6 7
Kokomo 031 120 0 7 9 2
Rockport 010 333 x — 10 12 4
Spencer Sandage, Tanner Jennings (5, W); Mason Keller, Avery Fields (5), Jace Stoops (6, L).
Kokomo: Hits — Cameron Arcari 3, Stoops 2, Kendall Lanning 1, Taylor Duncan 1, Drew Servies 1, Jacob Ward 1. 2B — Stoops 1, Arcari 1. RBI — Ward 2, Stoops 1, Servies 1, Isaac Guffey 1. Runs — Duncan 2, Lanning 1, Stoops 1, Arcari 1, Servies 1, Austin Robinson 1. SB — Servies 3. LOB — 7.
Rockport: Hits — Houston Compton 3, Diond’re Jacob 2, Ashton Tindle 2, Jake Stuteville 2, Jackson Raaf 1, Wes Scamahorn 1, Noah Brunner 1. RBI — Compton 3, Stuteville 2, Scamahorn 1, Tindle 1, Brunner 1. Runs — Jacob 3, Scamahorn 2, Compton 2, Raaf 1, Tindle 1, Brunner 1. 2B — Brunner. LOB — 6. T — 2:19.
Records: Rockport 19-7, Kokomo 13-16-1.

Tournament Results
Game 1: Newburgh Post 44 7, South Bend Post 151 0, forfeit.
Game 2: Crawfordsville Post 72 4, Muncie Post 19 2.
Game 3: Rockport Post 254 2, Valparaiso Post 94 0.
Game 4: Kokomo Post 6 9, South Haven Post 502 3.
Game 5: Valparaiso Post 94 7, Soutn Bend Post 151 0, forfeit.
Game 6: South Haven Post 502 12, Muncie Post 19 9.
Game 7: Rockport Post 254 4, Newburgh Post 44 3.
Game 8: Crawfordsville Post 72 10, Kokomo Post 6 4.
Game 9: Newburgh Post 44 6, South Haven Post 502 5.
Game 10: Kokomo Post 6 4, South Haven Post 502 3.
Game 11: Rockport Post 254 9, Crawfordsville Post 72 3.
Game 12 (Semifinals — Losers’ Bracket): Crawfordsville Post 72 9, Newburgh Post 44 5.
Game 13 (Semifinals — Winners’ Bracket): Rockport Post 254 10, Kokomo Post 6 7.
Game 14 (Championship): Crawfordsville Post 72 vs. Rockport Post 254 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 27.
Game 15 (Second championship): If necessary, following Game 14.