HANOVER, Md. – It didn’t take long for Wheeling to assert itself during the American Legion Mid-Atlantic Baseball Tournament Wednesday morning.

Post 1 (30-7) scored once in the bottom of the first inning before adding four in its next at-bat to build a 5-0 lead and cruised to a 5-1 victory over New York state champion Smith Post 24 from Rome, N.Y., at Joe Cannon Stadium.

With the win, Wheeling, representing West Virginia, advances to a 4:30 p.m. contest on Thursday against the winner between New Jersey state champion Brooklawn or Pennsylvania state champion Quakertown. Brooklawn is the defending American Legion World Series champion.

“It’s very important to win the first game, especially when you’re throwing your No. 1 arm,” assistant Post 1 coach Dustin Henry said in a text message. “We wanted to come out and throw strikes and just put the ball in play offensively. We did that.”

Ohio University-bound Alex Taylor was once again a spark plug for the Post 1 offense. The Linsly graduate singled twice and drove in three runs, including two in a four-run second. He also scored one run.

Leadoff hitter Jared Marsh, a Wheeling park grad, singled, scored two runs and stole a pair of bases. Another pair of Linsly alums – Dillon Wilson and Andrew Skadra – added an RBI single and an RBI groundout, respectively.

Marsh walked to start the bottom of the first, stole second and came around to score when Taylor reached on one of four errors committed by the Empire State champs. Post 1 played flawless in the field.

All the while, Wheeling Park 2023 graduate Quinn Jamison spun a gem on the mound. The right-hander struck out two, walked one and scattered three hits before leaving with two outs in the sixth. Ryland Robb walked two before closing out the game. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth.

“Quinn’s effort is always there and we expect a solid outing every time he steps foot on the mound,” Henry added. “We instructed him to stay around the zone and use his fielders, and he did just that.”

Smith Post 24 stranded eight runners on base, one more than Wheeling.

The game took just 1-hour, 40-minutes to complete.