Gauthier Amedee walks off with second win of Legion World Series

SHELBY, N.C. – Preston Thrash’s bunt single scored Reid Bouchereau with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh as Gonzales-based Gauthier Amedee remained unbeaten in the American Legion World Series with a 5-4 victory over Wilmington, Delaware, Friday.

Game winning play! pic.twitter.com/EjaVxiex1B

— Gauthier Amedee (@GauthierAmedee) August 17, 2018

The Wombats can clinch a spot in the tournament semifinals with a victory over Dubuque County, Iowa, Saturday at 6 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised by ESPNU.

Gauthier Amedee snapped a 2-2 tie with single runs in the fourth and sixth innings, but the Delaware squad rallied against Thrash to tie the game in the top of the seventh on Jacob Meisel’s pinch-hit, two-run single.

Thrash got his shot at redemption in the bottom of the seventh. Bouchereau led off with a walk, and William Dunn bunted him to second. Leadoff hitter Brayden Caskey, who had three of Gauthier Amedee’s nine hits, singled Bouchereau to third. Thrash, who went hitless in his first four at-bats on the afternoon, then delivered his heroics, laying down a perfect safety squeeze bunt along the first base line to give the Louisiana state champs a second consecutive one-run victory.

“He got a chance to redeem himself,” Gauthier Amedee coach Marty Luquet said. “He felt like he let his teammates down, and you know that’s the hardest thing in the world when you feel like that. But getting that bunt down and executing it, he redeemed himself.”

Jack Merrifield and Carson Dabadie each had a pair of hits for the Wombats, who left 14 runners on base, including the bases loaded twice.

Dwain Guice started for Gauthier Amedee and went 4 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out six. Austin Bankert, who got the final two outs in the top of the seventh, earned the victory.