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Portland Post 158 broke a tie with a 2-run 7th inning to punch their ticket to Tuesday.

After Portland (Ore.) Post 158 lost a close game to Midland (Mich.) Post 165 that allowed Portland to advance with a 1-2 pool play record by virtue of a tiebreaker over two other teams, coach Joe Duran said his team had lost a battle in hopes of trying to win the war.

Portland proved Duran correct as Post 158 knocked off Stripes Division winner Tupelo (Miss.) Post 49, 2026 American Legion World Series semifinal at Keeter Stadium in Shelby, N.C.

“That’s how it works sometimes,” Duran said after his team became the third straight team to advance to the finals with a semifinal victory after a 1-2 pool play record.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

PHOTO 1: Will Moody of Tupelo, Miss. Post 49 tags out Cal Gradwahl of Portland, Ore. Post 158.  PHOTO 2: Brody Thompson of Tupelo, Miss. Post 49 at bat.  PHOTO 3: Jaden Tragesser of Portland, Ore. Post 158 runs the bases.  PHOTO 4: Pitcher Wyatt McDaniels of Tupelo, Miss. Post 49.  PHOTO 5: Ben Foglio of Portland, Ore. Post 158 at bat.  PHOTO 6: Colin Flurry of Tupelo, Miss. Post 49 celebrates a home run.  Photos by Chet Strange

Previously, Henderson (Nev.) won the ALWS title in 2017 and Las Vegas (Nev.) was ALWS runner-up in 2018.

Portland also will be seeking to win Oregon’s second ALWS title.

“I wasn’t born yet,” Duran said of Portland Post 105’s 1969 championship-winner. “It was Madison High School and Madison Builders was the sponsor and they’re a part of group called the ‘Old Timer’s Baseball Group’ in Portland that we see around town all the time.”

That 1969 Portland team won 4-0 over Towson (Md.) in a game played in Hastings (Neb.).

This year’s Portland team will meet the winner of Monday’s Lincoln (Neb.)-Midland (Mich.) semifinal on Tuesday at 6 p.m. for the 2026 ALWS title.

Getting to the finals took exceptional pitching against a powerful Tupelo offense that won seven of its eight previous national Legion postseason games by a combined 66-20 score.

With two of Tupelo’s starters, Brayden Edmiston (knee) and Colin Flurry (hamstring), diminished by injuries, Duran started Ryan Frye in hopes of getting Post 49 off balance.

A right-hander with a sweeping sidearm motion, Frye yielded five hits, three walks and only a home run to Flurry (his fourth of the ALWS) before yielding to reliever Cooper Berta, who came in from left field.

 With the score tied at 1 in the bottom of the sixth and one batter on, Berta made a spectacular diving grab and wheeled, turned and fired to first base for a momentum-changing double play.

Then in the top of the seventh, Tupelo made its third and fourth errors, the latter allowing Nolan Foglio to score what proved to be the winning run, and Jaden Tragesser’s second hit of the game was a RBI single for a 3-1 advantage.

“We knew Frye was the guy to slow down a team that has as good an offense as Mississippi,” Duran said. “We knew he has a funky arm slot and he’s hard to square up and he’s had six straight great starts.

“And we had our guy Cooper available to shut the door. He’s got six saves in our last six save attempts.”

The first Tupelo error allowed Portland’s initial run to score after Ben Foglio hit a two-out double and advanced to third on a wild pitch.

“We barreled balls all day,” Duran said. “We just couldn’t find grass. But with some of the ones we didn’t hit hard, we took advantage of some of their mistakes. And now we’re playing for the world championship.”

Berta retired Tupelo in order in the bottom of the seventh with two strikeouts and a fly out to close out the victory.

Post 49, making its third appearance in the ALWS, finished 27-6-1 overall.

“These guys have been great all summer,” Tupelo coach Russell Bunch said. “We had some chances there and couldn’t make plays. We had some guys that were banged up and couldn’t run very well.

“I’m so proud of the way those guys fought. It’s baseball. You’re going to have that happen sometimes.”