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.