Cougars edged by Beulah in regular season finale, turn attention toward district tournament
The Central McLean/McClusky Cougars closed out the 2026 American Legion Baseball regular season Wednesday with a hard-fought 4-3 loss to Beulah in a nine-inning battle, but despite the setback, the Cougars enter postseason play confident they have the pieces to make a deep run at the upcoming district tournament.
The team grabbed the early advantage, plating two runs in the opening inning despite managing just three hits throughout the contest.
The Cougars capitalized on patient at-bats and Beulah miscues to build the early lead before the Miners slowly chipped away over the course of the evening.
Beulah answered with a run in the bottom of the second inning to cut the deficit in half, and both teams settled into a pitchers’ duel over the next several frames.
The Cougars starter Dawson Smith turned in another strong outing, working eight innings while consistently pitching out of trouble.
Smith scattered seven hits and allowed just two runs, only one of which was earned, while walking two and striking out three.
The Cougars’ defense committed four errors behind him, but Smith limited the damage and kept his team in position to win throughout the game.
The Cougars were unable to generate much offense after the opening inning, however, as Beulah’s pitching held the Cougar’s lineup to just three hits while forcing the visitors to rely on walks to create scoring opportunities.
Jaxon Wagner led the patient approach at the plate, drawing three walks while going 0-for-2. Dawson Smith also reached base twice via walks, finishing 0-for-2, while Jackson Blotter continued to provide timely production.
Blotter collected one of the Cougar’s three hits, finished 1-for-4, drove in a run and added a walk.
Cooper Kittler and Beckett Vaagene accounted for the Cougars’ remaining hits, each finishing 1-for-3 and 1-for-4, respectively.
Ethan Hanson went 0-for-4, Landon Saueressig finished 0-for-4 with a walk, Jayden Troyna was 0-for-4, and Chase Kinn added a walk while going 0-for-3.
The Miners tied the game with another run in the sixth inning, and after both teams were held scoreless through the seventh and eighth innings, the contest moved into the ninth deadlocked at 2-2.
Central McLean/McClusky regained the lead in the top of the ninth, manufacturing a run to move ahead 3-2 and putting itself just three outs away from ending the regular season with a road victory.
Beulah, however, had one final answer.
The Miners rallied in the bottom half of the inning, collecting two runs to complete the comeback and walk off with the 4-3 victory.
Cooper Kittler came on in relief for the final inning, allowing two earned runs on two hits while issuing one walk.
Although the result was disappointing, the Cougars finish the regular season with an 11-14 record and now shift their full attention to the most important stretch of the summer.