Mass. Zone 10 Legion Baseball

With one swing of the bat, Rob Hinckley saw his average jump 250 points. What really mattered, though, was that his Bridgewater American Legion baseball season got a 1,000 percent lift in the process. Hinckley collected his first hit of the season in four at-bats with a two-out, two-run single in a four-run ninth inning for Bridgewater Post 203, capping a 9-8 comeback win over Milton Post 114 at Cunningham Park on Wednesday in the Legion South Sectional final. The win enables Bridgewater, which had defeated Plymouth Post 40, 11-1, in eight innings earlier Wednesday, to force a winner-take-all rematch against Milton today at 4 at Cunningham Park. The two teams will meet for the third time in four days to decide which squad will advance to the state tournament’s final eight teams at Acushnet starting on Saturday. Hinckley, who came in relief in the eighth inning after pitching seven innings against Somerset on Sunday, held Milton scoreless in the ninth to hang on for the win, but its was his two-run single that was the story for Post 203 in its dramatic win.

“In college (Gordon College), our coach always told us to take the first pitch,” said Hinckley, “but here (in Legion), I like to free-swing. I thought, ‘Bases loaded and two outs and the first at-bat of the game (for Hinckley).’ He (Matt O’Neill) threw one right there and I turned on it. It was the biggest hit of my life. “I watched us in the first game beat Plymouth and, in this game, I was warming up a few times. We had the top of the order coming up and they have been coming through for us all year. Everyone contributed in the ninth inning.” Bridgewater, which had blown a six-run lead in losing to Milton, 10-7 on Monday, led, 4-2, and 5-4 Wednesday before falling behind, 8-5 in the eighth inning. Milton scored three times in the eighth as it took advantage of three walks, an error, a wild pitch, a passed ball and a successful squeeze bunt to break the tie. However, Bridgewater coach Tim Fitzgibbons felt that his team would come back in the ninth where Hinkley’s game-winning single drove in Drew Larson (two hits) and Kyle Cachopa. Earlier in the ninth, Larson had delivered a two-run single to bring Post 203 to within 8-7. That scored Anthony Tempesta (walk) and Sean McCall (double). Bridgewater had set the late-game tone in its win over Plymouth by scoring nine of its 11 runs over the last three innings in a game called because of the 10-run rule. “We talked about it going into the ninth inning,” said Fitzgibbons. “We scored a bunch of runs against Plymouth and we were perfectly capable of coming back. We just had to focus on good pitches to hit. They had the confidence to step up and go for it.” “Bridgewater did not quit,” said Milton coach Pat Bryan. “They were down three and they got the lead hitter on (with a walk). If you are up three runs, you can not walk the first guy and they had the guy put one in the gap (Larson) to score two runs and then we got two outs. “We layed a fastball in there and their kid (Hinckley) got the big hit.” Bridgewater, fell behind, 1-0 went ahead, 2-1 on a two-run double by Cachopa and took a 4-2 lead with two runs in the fifth inning. Larson scored on a Mike Connolly double and he scored on Dan Belanger’s groundout to put Post 203 up, 4-2.

However, Milton was able to come back each time that Bridgewater took the lead. Post 203 had worn down Plymouth, which they had lost to 3-2 earlier in the season. They were able to break open a 2-1 game with four runs in the sixth inning and added five more in the eighth. Tyler Irving ripped a two-out double down the third baseline to score Tyler Waterman to spark the four-run sixth inning for Bridgewater. Tim Belanger added an RBI double, Larson drove in anther run with an infield single and Cachopa had an RBI single for Post 203, which led, 6-1, after six innings. Connolly’s three-run double and RBI singles by both Waterman and Ryan Gavin keyed the five-run eighth inning for Bridgewater.

“We ran out of gas,” said Plymouth coach Paul Coffin. “We have played so many games in a short period of time. We had kids that had to leave work in trying to raise money for college and come out early and play, but that is no excuse. We did not play well. We were swinging at their pitcher’s (Greg Leger) sliders in the dirt.” Leger gave Bridgewater the boost it needed as he pitched a complete-game six-hitter, striking out six and walking one for the win against Plymouth. According to both teams, if today’s deciding game is postponed because of potential rain then Bridgewater will advance in the state tournament by virtue of winning more games in the bracket so far. Bridgewater has won three of its four game while Milton, which got a bye in the double-elimination tournament, had played three games and won two.

It was one inning that the Milton American Legion Post 114 baseball team will long remember and one that the Bridgewater Post 203 squad would love to forget in their South Sectional state tournament game at Cunningham Field. After falling behind, 6-0, in the third inning, Milton rallied for eight runs in the fourth inning by taking advantage of some Bridgewater pitching wildness and playing effective small-ball to stay unbeaten with a 10-7 victory in their double-elimination bracket. The first 10 hitters that Post 114 sent to the plate in the fourth reached base with eight of them scoring to pull Milton ahead, 10-6, and send Post 203 into the losers bracket. Milton, the lone remaining undefeated team in the sectional, will await the winner of today’s Bridgewater/Plymouth losers bracket game at 1:30 p.m. The winner will face Milton 30 minutes after the conclusion of that game. Plymouth eliminated Somerset, 9-4, on Monday. Milton only hit two balls out of the infield in its fourth-inning comeback — an RBI double by Willie Archibald and a two-run double down the first base line by James Eckel. The key for Post 114 in the fourth was four infield hits and four walks.

“Basically, we had a sacrifice bunt and a squeeze bunt that were well placed” said Milton coach Pat Bryan. “We battled their pitcher (Mike Connolly), who was sharp and he lost a little control and we just battled.” Bridgewater coach Tim Fitzgibbons felt that his team did not execute well at all in Milton’s big fourth inning. “One bad inning,” said Fitzgibbons. “We talk about throwing strikes, playing good defense and hitting the ball. In that inning, we did not throw strikes and we did not play good defense. If you erase that inning, it might be a different outcome. “They did a nice job of playing fundamental baseball.” Milton starting pitcher Mike Bortolotti, who survived a tough third inning where Post 203 scored five unearned runs, regrouped after Milton’s rally to keep Bridgewater in check. He gave up one run over the final four innings on a Tyler Waterman single that scored Kyle Cachopa to bring Bridgewater to within 10-7 in the seventh inning. Bortolotti bowed out after the seventh, having allowed seven hits with five strikeouts, two walks and allowing one earned run for the win. Cody Clark came in to start the eighth and retired all six hitters he faced, five of them on groundballs to end the game.

“We play the game the right way,” said Bryan. “We made one bad play when we gave up those five unearned runs. It was a tough play that had to be made.” Bridgewater took advantage of Milton’s only error, which came with two outs in the third inning, allowing Post 203 to score five runs and take a comfortable 6-0 lead. Anthony Tempesta and Drew Larson (two hits) both scored on the infield error and Tyler Irving added a three-run double to give Post 203 a 6-0 lead in the top of the third inning. “I knew that it would be a nine-inning game,” said Fitzgibbons. “Milton is a good team. They have been a good team for years and they could hit the ball. “I told the players when we went up 6-0, that they had the ability to come back and that they were going to hit the ball.” Milton started its comeback by taking advantage of a Bridgewater error on a low throw to first base on a potential one-out double-play ball in the third inning. James Eckel and Jack Davis both scored on the play to bring Post 114 to within 6-2. “We made the plays today,” said Bryan. “Our third baseman (Mike Muse) made a bunch of plays and our shortstop (Willie Archibald) made a bunch of plays. That is what this game is all about: you pitch and play defense. “We had some unearned runs and they had some unearned runs. The game should have been more like 6-4, but you take the victory and go home.”

If it was a business deal, the Bridgewater American Legion baseball team negotiated a nice tidy package for themselves. Bridgewater was efficent both offensively and defensively and put themselves into the winner’s part of the double-elimiantion four-team bracket in the legion state South Sectional with a 7-1 win over Somerset on Sunday. Post 203 will play at Milton today, a 12-4 winner over Plymouth on Sunday. “Rob Hinkley did an nice job for us today,” said Bridgewater coach Tim Fitzgibbon. “He threw strikes today, and Brendan Glavin did a nice job in relief as he has done all year.” “We hit the ball when we need to and we took advantage of the opportunities when we had them.”

Glavin retired all six hitters he faced and Hinkley was in control for the most part, but he had a couple of speed bumps along the way in his win. Hinkley, who had not pitched in over a week, was effective in the seven innings he worked. The tall righthander allowed one run, but it was his ability to get out of two bases- loaded jams that made his appearance even more impressive. In the first inning, Post 228 loaded the bases with two outs, but Hinkley got a pop out to get out of the jam. Hinkley got into a bases-loaded, no-out mess in the fifth inning with his team up, 5-0. He got a fly out and double play against the heart of the heart of the Somerset order to get out of that situation unscathed. “First impression,” said Hinkley about the bases-loaded, no-out situation. “I knew the hitters were pretty good. I made a good pitch to the three-batter and got the ground ball. Our defense was good all game.” “It was big to get out of the first inning without a run. It was big momentum swing not being down a couple of runs.”

“The little things did not happen for us,” said Somerset Bill Courville. “The flyballs that fell in front of our outfielders. We hit the ball right at people and they turned a double play when they needed to. It was a game of missed opportunities for us.” “No one has been able to stop those hitters in the bases-loaded, no out-situation in the fifth inning. Those were hitters that we had up in that situation.” The little things did add up for Bridgewater in the game. They took advantage of mistakes by Somerset defensively. Post 203, twice in the game, had runners on first and third and had the runner on first picked off by the Post 228 pitcher. However, both times Post 228 did not get the out and Tyler Irving stole home in both rundown situations.

“I don’t think that Tyler Irving ever stole home in his career before,” said a smiling Fitzgibbon. “If you score one run in nine innings,” said Courville,. “you are not going to win many games.” “We gave up two runs like that (on rundowns) and another scores on a wild pitch. You can’t do that;p, the little things in baseball add up.” Kyle Cachopa sparked a three-run third inning for Bridgewater with a double to center to score Tim Belanger and scored on Mike Connolly’s drifting flyball to right that was dropped. Connolly, who ended up on third on the flyball scored on a wild pitch to put Post 203 up 3-0. The Irving steal of home in a rundown and a single by Drew Larson (two hits) that scored Sean McCall with two outs gave Bridgewater a 5-0 lead. Ryan Gavin led off the sixth inning with a single and went to third on a single by Irving. He scored on a single by Anthony Tempesta and Irving scored his second run of the game in the middle of a rundown.

Bridgewater's Roy Hinkley delivers a pitch vs. Somerset.                     Teammates congratulate Sean McCall as he heads into the dugout.

Westwood 16, Hingham 3;

There were no magical comebacks Sunday afternoon for Hingham American Legion Post 120.  After hitting its way out of an eight-run deficit in the deciding game of its opening three-game series against the Hawkeye Athletic Club, Hingham found itself down, 6-2, against Westwood Post 320 at the completion of two innings Sunday. The final score was 16-3, and it could have been worse if the 10-run mercy rule did not end play after seven innings. Teams play nine-inning games in the South Sectional tournament and beyond. Playing as the No. 1 seed in Bracket A in this double-elimination round robin tournament, Hingham will play today versus the loser of Sunday’s other Bracket A game between South Attleboro and Norfolk. Sunday at Pete Wall Field at the Charles W. Eliot Park in Norwood, Hingham and Westwood entered the game with the potential to score a lot of runs.  Westwood ace John Sheehan quieted most of the Hingham lineup, striking out nine and walking only two while scattering five hits to earn the complete-game victory.

“He was as good if not better than we’ve seen all year,” said Hingham coach Vin Murray. “He overpowered our good hitters and deserves all the credit.” The right-hander’s only mistakes came at the hands of Hingham’s P.J. Falvey, who smashed two home runs. Falvey hit a two-run shot in the home half of the second to close the gap to 6-2. By the time he drove in his team’s third run in the fifth with another blast over the right field fence, Hingham was down, 13-3.  “Those long home runs by P.J. were impressive,” noted Murray, who, like the rest of the team and Hingham supporters, left the park wondering if the team can orchestrate another comeback after stumbling in the opener. “It’s tough to be in the loser’s bracket after game one, but it’s just one game and we have the type of hitters to make it happen,” Murray said. Other than Falvey, shortstop Jake McGuiggan (2-4) and pitcher Eric MacIver (1-2) were the only Hingham hitters to hit safely against Sheehan. “Eric deserved better,” said Murray. “Eric’s a tough kid and a great competitor for us. He’s our top guy. It was just a bad day.”

One would think that Hingham American Legion coach Vin Murray would be panic-stricken with his team down 8-0 in the third game of a best-of-three Zone 10 playoff series. Murray, however, has coached enough games at Cronin Field in Hingham to know that with the wind blowing out, an 8-0 lead may not be safe. He was right. Post 120 had eight of the nine players in its lineup drive in at least one run as it rallied from an 8-0 deficit for a 16-11, series-clinching win over the Hawkeye Athletic Club on Thursday night. Hingham advanced to the newly formed 12-team South Sectional tournament that begins play on Sunday. The sectional will be divided into three four-team brackets that will play a double-elimination tournament at three different sites. Three teams will advance to the state tournament.

“This team has so much character,” said Murray, “to come back from an 8-0 deficit against one of the better-hitting teams in our zone. “I brought the team together in the second inning when they were down 8-0 and told them any other time we would be in trouble. But with the wind blowing out and the hitters that we have, I felt really confident that we could come back. This was one of the greatest comebacks that I have been involved with in my 17 years of Legion coaching.” Every player in Hingham’s lineup had at least one hit for the second consecutive night. Hingham was also able to save one of its ace pitchers, Sam Koonce, who pitched two innings in Wednesday’s 21-8 win in Game 2. On Thursday, Koonce pitched nearly six innings and gave up three hits. He retired nine of the last 11 batters, aided by a dazzling Jake McGuiggan play on a ground ball through the middle after Hingham had taken a 13-11 lead.

“I just wanted to get us out of innings quickly,” said Koonce. “Eight runs is a lot to come back from. I feel throwing against them helped, because I learned that their top six hitters had trouble with the off-speed pitch if I could get ahead of them.” Hawkeye, on the other hand, was short on pitching. The Brockton-based club had two doubleheaders last weekend and played Monday in order to clinch its playoff spot. Despite the efforts of three different hurlers on Thursday, Hawkeye could not slow down the Hingham offense. “K.C. Murphy (five RBI) had a huge hit for us,” Murray said. “His grand slam after we had bases loaded and did not score in the first inning was so big. Taking Sam Koonce out of Game 2 was key, because he has the curveball that can shut this team down, because Hawkeye feasts on fastballs and we could not throw fastballs by them. He had the poise and the maturity and he was the ultimate warrior.”

Said Hawkeye coach Rich Cogliano: “We got up big. We were feeling pretty good, but we were out of pitching halfway through the game, and that is what happened. The bottom line was that we had to play a couple of doubleheaders last weekend and we had to play Monday, while some other teams got to rest. That was the difference right there. I am really proud of this team.” Hawkeye was able to build leads of 8-0, 10-5 and 11-7 because of the long ball. Hawkeye scored its first 10 runs courtesy of five home runs: a grand slam by David Pierce, two-run homers by Tim Cooney and Sam Previte, and solo shots by Nick Fedor and Mike Marshall. Hingham hit four home runs besides Murphy’s grand slam. Charlie Cifrino (three RBI) and McGuiggan hit two-run homers and Matt Henricksen hit a solo shot. McGuiggan’s homer tied the game in the fifth inning, 11-11. Koonce scored on a fielder’s choice and Eric MacIver had an RBI double to score Henricksen to give Post 120 its first lead, 13-11, in the fifth.

Hawkeye celebrates a Dave Pierce (3) grand slam that gave them an 8-0 lead.

It was an offensive breakout-plus for the Hingham American Legion baseball team. Post 120 coach Vin Murray was concerned about his team’s offense after its 7-2 Game 1 loss in their best-of-three Zone 10 playoff series with the Hawkeye Athletic Club. It didn’t take long for the veteran coach to see those concerns disappear. Post 120 sent 15 hitters to the plate in the first inning and scored 11 runs on its way to a 21-8 win in a game called after five innings because of the league’s 10-run rule. The win evened the series at one apiece with the third and final game today at Cronin Field in Hingham at 5 p.m.

“Our bats came alive tonight,” said Murray. “I’ve known all year that these kids can hit. They put 19 runs up against (first-place) Sandwich. I knew that they had the potential to do it. It was nice that it came in the first inning because after Tuesday’s first-game loss, we needed to get out on them early.  “This team has so much character; they came out swinging the bats early.”  Hawkeye’s Tim Cooney had shut down Hingham in Game 1 on six hits, but it might have taken a Hall of Fame pitcher to slow down Post 120 on Wednesday night. Hingham had six hits from its first nine hitters in Game 2 as it had 10 hits in the first inning. K.C. Murphy led Hingham in the first inning with two hits and three RBI and Matt Henricksen had two hits with two RBI. P.J. Falvey, Charlie Cifrino, Sam Koonce, Jake McGuiggan and Alex Criscuolo each had an RBI in the first inning.

Hawkeye has been hit for runs in the early going in games, but it was by far its worst start to a game this year. “Obviously,” said Hawkeye Athletic Club coach Rich Cogliano, “you don’t expect this to happen. The funny thing is that we’ve had the habit of letting teams score runs in the first inning. The one thing that we talked about was not letting Hingham score any runs in the first inning, and the exact opposite happened. “It was the opposite of Game 1 for us. We did everything wrong tonight, and we had done everything right the other night.” The only bright spots for Hawkeye were in the fourth and fifth innings. They scored five times in the fourth inning. Nick Fedor had an RBI single that was misplayed leading to another run and Brian Sullivan’s RBI double highlight the inning. Casey DeAndrade hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning.  “Greg Gerry got to hit,” said Cogliano. “He broke his nose in three places in the Rockland game and Will Lucini had a double. Brian Sullivan hadn’t thrown all year and he let up seven runs, but he did a good job. We might need those players tonight.”

Post 120 had 11 different people get hits in its 22-hit attack, including everyone in the starting lineup, and they had 10 different people score runs as they batted around in three different innings. Cifrino led the Hingham offense with four hits and three RBI. Murphy (three RBI), McGuiggan (homer and three RBI) and Henricksen (two RBI) added three hits each. Sam Koonce and Falvey had two hits apiece for Post 120. “I am so proud of the way that we bounced back tonight,” said Murray. “Everyone came out and played so well tonight.” “It shows you how well we can hit when we scored 10 more runs in the last four innings after getting 11 in the first. We are going to need top flight pitching to hold them in check. Hawkeye is a good hitting team, they hit the ball as well as anyone that I have seen.”

Games are usually a lot closer and more competitive in the postseason, something Bridgewater Post 222 can attest to. Bridgewater defeated Wareham Post 220 on Wednesday night, 9-6, at Spillane Field after winning the night before on a walkoff home run. Bridgewater swept the best-of-three series in a preliminary round matchup of the Zone 10 playoffs. Bridgewater trailed, 1-0, after the first inning when Wareham loaded the bases with a walk and two consecutive singles. Ben Church touched home for the first run of the night when Nick Filloramo drove a sacrifice fly to deep center field. Wareham would hold that 1-0 lead until the fourth inning, in large part, because of its defense. Wareham turned a double play in each of the first three innings.

“Their defense was great early on,” said Bridgewater coach Tim Fitzgibbons. “They turned a double play just about every time we got a man on base.” Bridgewater would finally avoid a rally-killing double play in the fourth inning when it busted out for seven important runs. Drew Larson got the inning started with a leadoff single, and he scored Bridgewater’s first run three batters later when Dan Belanger slapped an RBI single to center field. Ryan Gavin and Ryan Tufts each drove in a run later in the inning to load the bases. Five straight Bridgewater batters would reach base without ever making solid contact.

“That’s just baseball,” said Wareham coach Keith Delgado. “They had a few well-placed hits, and there’s nothing we can do about that.” After the streak of five straight base runners, Greg Leger crushed a bases-loaded triple to the fence in left-center field to clear the bases and give Bridgewater a 7-1 lead. “That was the play of the game for us,” said Fitzgibbons. “We have to take advantage of our opportunities against a team like that, and thank god we did.” The seven runs proved to be enough for Bridgewater starter Tim Belanger, but not by much. Belanger ran into trouble of his own in the fifth inning. After a walk, Belanger allowed a double and a triple that brought Wareham to within two runs. Belanger retired the next batter on a groundout, but the following batter ripped an RBI triple to cut the deficit to one. Belanger allowed three extra-base hits in the inning, and Bridgewater had pitchers warming in the bullpen. But with one out and the tying runner on third, Fitzgibbons elected to stay with his starter.

“He’s a veteran pitcher for us,” Fitzgibbons said. “I know he could still get outs, and we weren’t going to pull him until after he had given up the lead.” The gamble by Fitzgibbons paid off as Belanger struck out the leadoff batter for the second out of the inning, and he induced a weak groundout to escape the jam with a 7-6 lead. Belanger would later receive two huge insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning. Dan Belanger reached first base on an error, and Ryan Gavin singled to left field to put two runners on with nobody out. After a strikeout, eighth-grader Ryan Tufts crushed a triple out by the 412 foot sign that scored two and gave Bridgewater some much needed breathing room. “That was so key for us,” Fitzgibbons said. “The last inning would have been really interesting if it was still a one-run game.” Wareham, as it did all game long, wouldn’t surrender in the last inning. Wareham was able to send the tying run to the plate, but Belanger ended the game by striking out his seventh batter.

The victory advances Bridgewater into the second round of the Zone 10 playoffs. Bridgewater will resume play on Sunday, but its opponent has yet to be determined.

Hanover 11, Whitman 5;

Hawkeye Athletic Club pitcher Tim Cooney might not have had the regular season that he would have liked this year, but his playoff debut was pretty impressive. Cooney frustrated a good-hitting team for seven innings as he pitched the seventh-seeded Hawkeye Athletic Club to a 7-2 win in the first game of the best-of-three Zone 10 American Legion baseball playoff series with second-seeded Hingham. The teams played against each other in the Zone 10 playoffs last year, when fourth-seeded Hawkeye eliminated fifth-seeded Hingham after losing the first game.  ooney, a righthander who pitched for St. Anselm College during the spring, scattered six hits, walked one and struck out one in his complete game. Cooney’s breaking pitch kept the Hawkeye infield busy as he recorded 13 ground-ball outs and got two infield pop-outs.

“You could not ask for anything more from Tim,” said Hawkeye coach Rich Cogliano, whose team will attempt to wrap up the series today at 5 p.m. at Massasoit Community College. “Tim struggled this year, he had a long freshman season at St. Anselm. He has been very tired. I was very happy for him. Tim was on the mound when we tied them (6-6) during the season.”

Said Hingham coach Vin Murray: “He was throwing it for strikes on the first pitch. A lot of our guys were not expecting to see a first-pitch curveball. Once he got ahead with the curveball, it made it tough for our guys, because we did not know what he was throwing after that. He deserves all of the credit. “I told the players that it was not the seven, but the two that hurt us. We had first and second with nobody out and could not get a big inning.”

Cooney got good support from the Hawkeye lineup over the first four innings against Hingham ace Eric MacIver, who came into the game with a five-game winning streak, during which he did not allow an earned run. Hawkeye got all seven of its hits in the first four innings, and three of their top five hitters — Nick Fedor, Justin DeAndrade and Mike Marshall — each drove in two runs. Cogliano felt his team was helped by its 5-5 game Monday night against Brockton in facing a strong performance by Post 35’s Matt Sliney. “We wanted to come out aggressively and score some runs and then rely on our defense,” said Cogliano. “The game against Brockton was good for us in a lot of ways, and one of them was hitting the ball. Matt Sliney pitched a great game and we came out flying against Hingham’s ace.”

Said Murray: “Eric didn’t have his usual velocity. Once he got his curveball going, he was able to shut them down.” The first three hitters for Hawkeye got on base and all scored. Fedor and DeAndrade both walked and David Pierce lined an RBI single to start what would be a three-run first inning. Marshall added a two-run single for the other two Hawkeye runs. Hingham, which got its first two hitters on base, could only score one run as Charlie Cifrino’s sacrifice fly scored Jake McGuiggan (two hits). Hawkeye extended the lead with a two-run double by DeAndrade that scored Zac Cooney and Fedor to forge a 5-1 lead. Fedor lined a two-run homer in the fourth inning and Cooney held Post 120 scoreless after the first until the sixth, when K.C. Murphy scored on an Andrew Pompeo groundout.

Hanover 7, Whitman 4;

Paul Cheney scattered seven hits with three strikeouts over six innings to earn a victory for Post 149 in the first game of the best-of-three series. Catcher Rich McHugh hit a grand slam for Hanover.

Bridgewater 3, Wareham 2;

Bridgewater Post 203 needed some magic in the bottom of the eighth inning and Dan Belanger delivered. The Bridgewater batsman belted a two-run, walk-off homer to give his squad a 3-2 victory over Wareham and a 1-0 advantage in their first-round American Legion playoff series. Greg Leger pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts to lead Bridgewater. Game two of the best-of-three series is scheduled for 7 tonight at Spillane Field in Wareham.