Cherry Hill Legion Forces Decisive Championship Game

The difference between Cherry Hill's night and day games against Gibbsboro was—well, night and day.

In a must-win position in the Junior American Legion state tournament Tuesday afternoon, the Stealers jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never trailed their tournament co-hosts, as Jack Goan broke it open with a three-run double in the fifth to help force a winner-take all game Wednesday.

It was a 180 from Cherry Hill's late-night loss to Gibbsboro Monday, with the Stealers finding ways to score early and often against a shaky Gibbsboro pitching staff.

Cherry Hill took a 3-0 lead in the first inning with just one RBI hit—Mike Wurster's single with the bases loaded—and otherwise took advantage of walks and wild pitches.

On the defensive side, Carter Fichter was nearly untouchable on the mound, racking up six strikeouts and weathering one difficult inning, when Gibbsboro strung together several hits to tie things up at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth.

Goan's game-breaking double to dead center came in the next inning, after Vinny Guckin walked to load the bases, and Fichter later singled to bring Goan home to make it 8-4.

Gibbsboro didn't threaten again after that, forcing a third game between the two squads to decide the state champ, slated for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Eastern's Joe Hartmann Field.

Just a few hours earlier Tuesday, the Stealers breezed by Washington Township in just an hour and 42 minutes to get into the finals, behind a six-strikeout effort from Ian Scheidemann, who allowed just one run in the 3-1 victory.

Cherry Hill bunched its runs in the third and fourth inning of that game, getting a two-run single from Guckin and another RBI single from Wurster.

Check out photos from the action Monday and Tuesday:

• Cherry Hill Legion Beats Gibbsboro [Photos]
• Cherry Hill Legion Beats Washington Township [Photos]
• Cherry Hill vs. Gibbsboro in Junior Legion Tourney [Photos]