During the regular season, they battered opposing teams into submission.
For the 2021 American Legion Area 5 Tournament at Fowler Park on the USD campus, Post 460 Trojans took a different approach.
They quickly fell behind in all four games, including Sunday’s championship game.
But in keeping with the new trend, the Trojans roared back from behind for a 9-2 victory over Post 146 & 760 Vipers on Sunday.
Post 146 & 760 downed Post 282 Cobras in the losers’ bracket final by a 4-2 score to reach the final.
Both teams advance to the California State Championships, starting Saturday in Clovis, Post 460 for the third straight time and Post 146 & 760 for the first time.
It was the third consecutive tournament title for Post 260, which is from Patrick Henry.
Post 460, which downed Post 146 & 760 by a 7-3 score on Saturday, got a complete-game five-hitter from Travis Van Dyke, who will be a junior this fall for Henry.
Van Dyke needed 90 pitches to cap off the gem that included eight strikeouts and one walk. He allowed four of those five hits after the first-inning uprising.
“The way we’ve started games, I was trying to get some quick outs to get the momentum right away,” Van Dyke said. “When we fall behind, we don’t get too worried because I know we can come back.
“After the quick second and third innings, I realized I would be there for the rest of the game. I just made one mistake all day.”
Van Dyke surrendered a pair of first-inning runs on a walk, Jaden Kealack’s triple and a groundout.
Post 460 got a first-inning run without a hit and tied the game in the second on Nolan Kluge’s double.
“That first run took the momentum back from them,’’ Van Dyke said. “We’ve gotten a lot of baseball experience with this tournament, and now we’re going to Clovis to get more.’’
Talin Gardini and Kluge both went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Post 460, which also got two RBIs from Zach Morales and Brady Hull.
“What the players are doing is pretty awesome,’’ Post 460 coach Sheldon Watkins said. “It’s important because we have new faces. Things are more relaxed now than it is during the spring.’’
The last time a San Diego team captured the national championship in American Legion was 1954.
Monahan is a freelance writer.
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