WEST LAWN, Pa. - Cody Brown is the only pitcher for the Brooklawn Senior American Legion team that regularly takes his hacks at the plate.
Brown showed why after powering Brooklawn with his bat and arm to Thursday's opening 9-3 win over Pennsylvania state champion Spring City in the Mid-Atlantic Regionals at Ted Palka Park's Owls Field.
Brooklawn (38-7-1) will play the winner of Thursday's late game between host West Lawn and Virginia in Friday's final game, scheduled to begin around 7:30 p.m.
Spring City (36-7), which is comprised mostly of players from Spring-Ford High School, will play the second game on Friday, approximately 1 p.m. against the loser of the West Lawn-Virginia game.
The Mid-Atlantic Region champion will advance to the American Legion World Series in Spokane, Wash.
Brown, an Inquirer first-team all-South Jersey selection, will be a senior at Gloucester Catholic High. He earned the win Thursday, allowing two runs and striking out six in seven innings. Audubon junior Andrew Schorr pitched the final two innings for Brooklawn, the recent winner of its 24th New Jersey state title.
As well as he did on the mound, it was at the plate where Brown turned the game around. With Spring City leading, 2-1, Brown sent a 3-1 fastball over the 375 sign in rightfield for a three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
"I was sitting fastball, and I jumped on it," Brown said.
Of course, Brown takes a little ribbing from fellow pitchers during workouts. That's because he splits his time between the mound and the plate.
"Some of our pitchers get on me," Brown said laughing. "They tell me that I'm missing too much time pitching while working on my hitting."
Brooklawn lumped together 13 hits, with centerfielder Steve Wilgus, a senior at Gloucester Catholic, going 3 for 3 with 1 RBI.
The Brooklawn offense was efficient, getting all nine runs with two outs.
"The home run hurt us, but they came up with big hits all game with two outs," said Spring City manager Jamie Scheck. "They hurt us with two outs, and we weren't able to do the same."
Spring City centerfielder Pat Medley went 3 for 5 with a triple and two RBIs while second baseman Tom Grablewski was 3 for 4 with two runs scored. Sean Larkin was the losing pitcher.
In a double-elimination tournament, winning that first game is a major boost to any team.
