Everything Comes Together for Milton Legion Post 114

When the ball slapped into the first baseman's mitt in the bottom of the eighth inning after a 5-4-3 game-ending double play, Matt McDougall could take a sigh of relief and know that the first inning was way in the past.

McDougall overcame a rough 4-run first inning to go the distance in Milton Legion Post 114's 14-4 victory in eight innings over Sudbury Post 191 in the American Legion Massachusetts State Tournament on Sunday at Campanelli Stadium.

The dominoes were not falling in unison for Milton and McDougall out of the gate. The first inning featured two wild pitches, three hits, a balk that put runners into scoring position and a costly error on a routine pop up that would have ended the inning. All of these variables could have equaled disaster for McDougall, but there he was, finishing off what he started and giving Milton a crucial victory in the tournament.

"I just told him to re-group," said Milton manager Pat Bryan. "He's got the best mound presence so I just told him to go out there and pitch."

And pitch is just what he did.

Over the final seven innings of his outing, McDougall pitched a two-hit shutout. Instead of falling behind hitters, like he was in the first, he was quickening the pace of the game and pounding the strike zone with offspeed pitches and fastballs, which made quick work of the opposing hitters.

"I knew I'd be able to settle down and really settle in," said McDougall. "The first inning I was throwing way too many fastballs. That's not really my game. My game is more mixing and matching and throwing offspeed pitches."

It didn't hurt having an offense explode from top to bottom with 14 runs — nine through the first four innings — to help ease the first inning troubles.

From the get-go the bats were hot for Milton. Willie Archibald missed a 3-run homer by inches in the top of the first and had to settle for a two RBI double.

Milton fell behind 4-2 after the first, but quickly took control of the game with a five run top of the second inning. Sudbury pitchers issued five walks and one free pass on a hit by pitch to help Milton grab those important runs.

Brian Besinger roped an RBI single in the top of the third and Matt O'Neill came through with a RBI double in the top of the fourth to stretch the lead to 9-4. Milton kept the pressure on through the middle innings and landed the knockout punch with four runs in the top of the seventh.

Archibald again delivered with a two RBI double after Sudbury committed its fifth error of the game on a grounder hit by Besinger to first that would have ended the inning.

This was probably one of the more complete team wins of the season for Milton and they will continue their quest tonight at 7:30.

"We just had one little blip with that one popup," said Bryan. "After that they played great defense and swung the bat well. Overall it was a great win."