By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
DALLAS, Ore.– The Post 20 Dirtbags needed two wins over the Mid-Coast Dungies to punch their ticket to at least the American Legion Triple-A State Playoffs when their series kicked off on Monday at Dallas High School. It was something that they did, as they took the doubleadher 9-2 and 14-4 to continue their season beyond Tuesday’s season finale.
But first, they had to worry about the first win before they even thought of the postseason.
With Salem Academy’s Isaiah Imig on the hill, the incoming Crusader Sophomore went six-and-a-third-innings, striking out six as the Dirtbag bats backed up their young pitcher in the Game 1 victory.
“We had to get the first one and worry about the second one later. We got here and just wanted to get the first one at least,” starts Imig. “I’m really grateful for the chance to get here as a freshman. It’s pretty amazing that I got this experience. Hopefully, I can carry that over to my next few years.”
Imig was one of four Dirtbags to get two hits in Game 2 of the doubleheader, joining Dallas’ Tyler Hess and Eli Sledge and Central’s Santi Alarcon to have two hits in the 14-4 victory. Post 20 jumped out to a 9-0 lead before the Dungies cut it to 12-4 before the Dirtbags closed out the game to clinch a spot in the Triple-A Play-In Round for the fourth-straight year.
“We could’ve survived winning and losing one today, but it was better off getting it done today. Now we can go have fun tomorrow and right into it and win on Wednesday,” said Sledge. “Just got to piece it all together. We got a lot of parts where we’re really good, but we’re only really good when we string it all together.”
The series will close out at Newport on Tuesday before Post 20 plays their Play-In game against either Eugene or the SunWest Generals of Redmond depending on how their respective Monday doubleheader’s went in Area-4 That Wednesday game will be at a neutral location for a spot in the American Legion Triple-A State Playoffs that starts on Saturday in Portland.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
