'This team's special.' Hudson Post 100 wins Regional, reaches first Legion World Series

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Act like you’ve ...

(Trailing late in the game).

Been there.

Act like you’ve ...

(American Legion World Series).

Not THERE.

Another day, another comeback – Hudson Post 100’s endless summer continues.

A six-run lead, a one-run deficit. Just a routine afternoon waiting for the latest hero to be crowned. Where to start?

Let’s try Dan Demirjian. Three run-scoring singles, including a two-out knock in the sixth to tie the score at 9. Or Peter Ward’s rally-killing relief effort on the mound in the fourth frame before he doubled in Demirjian with the go-ahead run.

Solid candidates, but Anthony Moura’s three-run double to highlight a seven-run decisive sixth finally put Hudson in a comfortable spot in his team’s 15-9 victory Sunday over Cumberland, R.I., that handed Post 100 their first American Legion Regional championship.

After closer Ryan Graf induced a game-ending flyball to right fielder Ward, he was doused by water bottles that were filled by the bench players just before his final pitch. Coach Ryan Bowen got it worse when a Gatorade bucket was emptied over his head.

That’s how you celebrate a program’s first trip to the American Legion World Series.

“It just means the world to me,” said Demirjian, pun intended, who’s a 2023 Hudson High graduate and recently transferred from Framingham State to Springfield College. “I’ve been playing with these kids since I was 9. It’s surreal, having to go down to North Carolina.”

Tournament MVP Chase Donahue was asked if a trip to Shelby, N.C., to play in the World Series was possible back on July 18 when Post 100 needed a 4-3 win over Framingham just to advance in the Zone 4 playoffs.

“I want to say I would have called you crazy,” said Donahue, who recently transferred from Southern Maine to Mitchell College. “I know that sounds rude but now that it’s in the cards, I’m playing with this hand we’ve been dealt and I’m not putting it down anytime soon.”

Moura’s bases-clearing double proved his pre-tournament premonition correct.

“I’ve actually been waiting for this for a while,” he said. “I knew right when we got here at the banquet that we were going to win it all. I had a weird feeling. This team’s special.”

Another World Series for Hudson foursome

Six summers ago, Bobby Long Jr., Connor Madden, Teddy McFarland and Demirjian played on Hudson’s first team to reach this level when the town’s 12U junior team advanced to the Cal Ripken World Series in Branson, Mo. Matt McFarland was their coach.

On Sunday, Long scored three times after being hit by pitches and Demirjian went 3-for-5 to join Madden and Teddy McFarland as ‘23 Hudson High graduates to again reach the Series.

Matt McFarland said imagining a trip to Shelby was impossible because many of Post 100’s games have been decided by a single run in dramatic fashion.

“Not only is (the World Series) so far in the future, but the next inning is so far in the future, the next game, the next score,” he said. “It’s just crazy. The didn’t realize they were down; they just kept playing baseball.”

“We’re not afraid of pressure,” Donahue said. “Honestly, if you ask some of the guys, I think we like it.”

More twists and turns for Post 100

Hudson scored six times in the second, ignited by Moura’s hustle on a bunt that loaded the bases. Demirjian drove in his first run, and with Michael Atwater on the mound, the lead appeared safe. But Cumberland’s five runs in the third and another in the fourth tied it.

After Hudson scored twice, Cumberland pushed across three runs in the sixth for a 9-8 lead that was quickly erased. Chase Barrett went 2-for 3 with three RBIs, Ryan Dillon and Marshall Kehlhem both scored twice and Matt Gogan had a hit and drove in a run.

Post 100’s seven-run sixth put everyone at ease except for Bowen.

“I was still kind of on edge a little bit. I wasn’t going to be comfortable until that last out,” he said.

Does a trip to the World Series seem real, coach?

“No. It didn’t feel real that we were even in the Regional,” said Bowen, whose team plays Southeast champ Wayne County, N.C., Thursday at 4 p.m. to begin the World Series. “I don’t think it’s going to sink in until we look back and go ‘wow. What a crazy ride.’”

Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Hudson Post 100 continues 'crazy ride,' advances to Legion World Series