Exeter Post 32 scores two in ninth to beat Hudson Post 48 in American Legion baseball action

HUDSON – Dana Barbin learned all he needed to know about Greg Emanuelson during one at bat Wednesday.

After watching Emanuelson crush a two-run double that pulled the Hudson Post 48 baseball team into an 8-8 tie with Exeter Post 32 in the sixth inning, Barbin didn’t want to give the Post 48 catcher another chance to beat his team.

With Emanuelson up and first base open in the eighth, Barbin called for an intentional walk to load the bases with one out, and it paid off.

Exeter pitcher Cody Morissette got Mike Gray to ground into an inning-ending double play and Post 32 scored twice in the top of the ninth to escape with a 10-8 win in American Legion senior league action at Alvirne High School.

“Getting out of that bases-loaded (situation) there in the eighth inning was big,” Barbin said. “I just said ‘that kid looks like a pretty good hitter to me.’ Let’s let somebody else try to beat us.”

Morissette got the win by pitching three innings of relief, which included getting another double play in the bottom of the ninth to erase a leadoff double by Derek Hudson. Mitch Sytulek, Henrik Barbin, JT Thompson and Christian Devine each had two RBIs for Exeter (12-4), with Thompson driving in the winning run in the ninth.

Ryan Glendye suffered the loss for Hudson (6-9), as he went 8 2/3 innings, allowing 10 runs on 12 hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. Emanuelson finished the day 1 for 2 with three RBIs, two runs scored, two walks and three stolen bases, while Kyle Shaw also scored twice and drove in a run.

“I was happy with our compete level against a team that’s going to make the tournament and has a pretty good lineup from top to bottom,” Hudson coach Scott Szuksta said. “They had a lot of bats and good hits.

“We have a gritty team. We’re going through a rough stretch where we have 10 guys at every game, but the 10 we have are really competing. A lot of them are playing at the senior level for the first time. I really like what they’ve been able to do and how they compete with teams, because they don’t give up.”

Post 48 rallied three times on Wednesday to tie the game, answering Exeter’s two runs in the first and three runs in the third to make it a 5-5 game. Post 32 went ahead 7-5 in the top of the fifth and 8-6 in the top of the sixth, but Emanuelson’s two-run double in the bottom of the inning tied it again.

“They did a good job,” Barbin said of Hudson. “You’ve got to get a little fortunate. We get a ground ball (on the double play) and if it’s hit a little bit over, who knows. You’ve got to make the play, but you’ve also got to be fortunate.”

After the intentional walk to load the bases in the eighth, Gray fouled off eight pitches in a 10-pitch at bat before hitting a groundball to third baseman Jared Brescia.

Brescia threw home to force out Pat Rauseo, and catcher Chris Hanna fired to first to get Gray to end the inning.

“We had the situation we wanted, a man on third with no outs and our three, four and five (hitters) up,” Szuksta said. “That was a huge at bat.”

The win locks up a playoff spot for Exeter, and one more win would give Post 32 the second seed in the District B standings.