Post 346 edges Crawfordsville for region title, faces Princeton in State Finals

Wayne Newton Post 346 clinched the American Legion Indiana Region 3 baseball championship at Terre Haute North High School with a 4-3 victory over Crawfordsville Post 72 on Sunday.

The last time Post 346 won a state title was in 2019, and the team reached the American Legion World Series in 2006. Now, the 2026 Wayne Newton squad gets a chance at a state title, beginning with a noon game against Princeton (19-9) Friday at Rockport. The eight-team state finals competition continues through Tuesday, July 28.

Terre Haute’s 31-3 record is the best in the State Finals field.

Sunday’s first inning was one Post 346 would probably like to forget, but it wasn’t too rough. Jackson Pierce struggled to find the strike zone and gave up a run before settling in a bit after a meeting on the mound.

Coach Jason Fields said he told Pierce to just settle in.

“He’s a guy that just got back from vacation last week,” Fields explained.

He said he told him to settle in and do what he needs to do and said he’s been great for the team all year. Fields noted once Pierce settles in, he has really good stuff.

Post 346 answered with two runs in the bottom half of the first as Noah Fields walked with Hunter Mason connecting on a double before Parker Weir connected on a double of his own. The game was hard fought by both sides with each team answering the bell up until the end when Post 346 pulled away.

Weir connected on a single later on with Parker Higham doubling to score him to make it 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth.

Crawfordsville pulled within one in the top of the fifth, but Post 346 saw Briar Goda score as Colten Moore, Parker Weir and Linden Jenkins all reached base to get the fourth and winning run across the plate. While Post 72 pulled back within one in the top of the sixth, Post 346 played defensively in the top of the seventh and snuck out with the win.

Fields noted how the team went through three pitchers with Gage Sullivan and Trey Eldridge coming on in relief.

“I was confident in every single one of them,” Fields said. “I really like the depth of our team this year,” coach Jason Fields said. “We have a lot of pitching, depth wise we can do about anything we need to do.”

Fields gave props to Post 72 likening them to his own team with their ability to hit.

He said he told his team to stay focused and do what they do.

Hunter Mason noted how he and his teammates on Post 346 have played Crawfordsville a ton and know what that team has and vice versa.

Weir noted how Crawfordsville is always a tough opponent and that coming in, they knew what they were going to get.

“We always have to be dialed in and make plays,” Weir said. “Made a few costly mistakes that we were luckily able to bounce back from.”

He noted how they were able to put runners on and get them in scoring position.

“Having timely hits is great when it comes to winning championships,” Weir said.

In a tight back and forth Region 3 championship game, Weir said the team learned how to fight and that being a good team, they’re going to get everybody’s best.

Weir hit the nail on the head sort of going back to the first inning saying that they’re not always going to be ahead every game.

“Knowing how to fight and put runners on and eventually having timely hits and do the right things to score is always helpful,” Weir said.

POST 72 (AB-R-H-RBI) — Heaton rf 3-1-2-0, Riser cf 1-0-0-0, Wooten 4-0-1-1, Gooch lf 3-1-0-0, Smith 3b 3-0-1-1, Grimmett 3b 1-0-0-0, Scott 1b 4-0-1-0, Hill 2b 3-1-1-0, Miller c 3-0-1-0, Brown ss 3-0-0-0. Totals 28-3-7-2.

POST 346 (AB-R-H-RBI) — Goda lf 3-1-0-0, Fields 2b 3-1-2-0, Mason 3b 4-1-1-0, Moore rf 2-0-0-0, Weir cf 3-1-3-3, Jenkins 1b 3-0-0-0, Morrison 3-0-0-0, Higham ss 3-0-1-1, Samm c 3-0-2-0. Totals 27-4-9-4.

Post 72 100 011 0 — 3

Post 346 200 110 x — 4

E — Jenkins, Brown. 2B — Hill, Weir. SB — Weir, Goda, Heaton, Gooch.

Post 72 IP H R ER BB SO

Sheldon 6 9 4 4 2 1

Post 346 IP H R ER BB SO

Pierce 5 6 3 1 3 3

Sullivan 1 1 0 0 1 1

Eldridge 1 0 0 0 0 0

WP — Pierce 2, Sullivan. HBP — by Pierce (Riser).

Next — Post 346 (31-3) heads to the state tournament in Rockport where the team will play Friday at noon EDT.