Beverly/Lowell Post 389/750’s Jack McCurdy sprints to third base during the team’s 9-3 win over Middleport Post 128 on Wednesday. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

BEVERLY — In honor of its first ever state championship club, the Beverly/Lowell Post 389/750 baseball team donned throwback jerseys in Wednesday’s 9-3 win over Middleport Post 128.

Twenty years ago, the 2006 Beverly/Lowell squad became the first legion team to lose its first game at the Ohio state tournament and come all the way back to win it all.

For Post 389/750 head coach Todd Engle, who has since led the program to three more state titles, that 2006 team holds a special place in his heart.

“This is the exact same uniform as when we won our first state tournament in 2006,” Engle said.

“Back then, there were 12 teams in the state of Ohio, and we were the first team to lose our first game of the state tournament and come clear back through and win. This was back when the state tournament was in Athens. It was nine-inning games. We would play in the morning because we got in the loser’s bracket, and (Beverly/Lowell manager) Doug (Wainwright) would take these jerseys to the laundromat between games and then we’d come back and play at 2 o’clock. But yeah, he was kind of the laundry man. We were telling stories in here tonight about that — just a magical year and tonight brought back a lot of memories.”

Beverly/Lowell Post 389/750’s Lucas Hager, left, waits to tag Middleport Post 128’s Jeremiah Martin on a stolen base attempt during Wednesday’s game. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

What better way to honor the 2006 team than by picking up a W.

Wade Duskey started and pitched three innings for Beverly/Lowell while Coleman Steimer and Grady Hesson combined to cover the final four innings in relief.

Post 389/750 jumped ahead early with a three-spot in the first inning and never looked back. Jack McCurdy and Easton Walker led off the game with back-to-back singles. After McCurdy scored on a double-steal, Hesson and Duskey later collected RBI knocks to make it 3-0.

Walker’s RBI groundout in the second and Caden Henniger’s RBI single in the fourth made it 5-1.

In the fifth, McCurdy tripled to bring home a run and later scored on Walker’s single to right.

Beverly/Lowell Post 389/750’s Wade Duskey delivers a pitch during the team’s 9-3 win over Middleport Post 128 on Wednesday. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

With a 7-1 lead and six outs to go, Beverly/Lowell was sitting pretty until Steimer ran into some trouble in the top of the sixth. Middleport loaded the bases with one out and cut it to 7-2 on Bradley Dillon’s fielder’s choice grounder to third. After a walk loaded the bases again, Engle brought in Hesson, who allowed an RBI single to Jeremiah Martin before getting a popout to end the inning with the score at 7-3.

All that momentum went by the wayside for Post 128 as a pair of errors led to two Beverly/Lowell runs in the bottom of the sixth, making it 9-3. Hesson pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to lock down the victory.

Post 389/750 snapped a five-game losing skid and improved to 15-7-1 on the year.

“We played some hellalcious competition down at the beach and went 0-4,” Engle said. “We competed and played well, but we had a rough go down there, so this hopefully gets us bounced back and headed in the right direction.”

McCurdy scored three runs and was one of four Beverly/Lowell players with two hits, joining Walker, Henniger and Duskey. Walker had a game-high two RBIs.

Beverly/Lowell Post 389/750 head coach Todd Engle holds a mound visit during the team’s 9-3 win over Middleport Post 128 on Wednesday. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

“I mean, it’s so hot,” Engle said. “There’s no energy. Our poor crowd, sitting up there melting down. Usually we feed off their energy. I thought all the kids played hard.

“We thought it’d be a little cooler to wear our T-shirts, but you can see they’re sweating through them. But it’s pretty cool to look out there on the field and see that.”

Martin had three of Middleport’s eight hits in the game. David Kemppel pitched fiving innings in a losing effort. Jordan Lorentz pitched an inning of relief.

“We just haven’t had a lot of practice time this year,” Engle said. “We’re still making some base-running errors and that kind of stuff that usually you get to practice and clean up. We’re hoping our best baseball is ahead of us.”

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@newsandsentinel.com.

Beverly/Lowell 9, Middleport 3

M 001 002 0 — 3 8 4

B 310 122 x — 9 11 1

WP: Wade Duskey 3 IP, 2 BB, 1 SO

Coleman Steimer 2.2 IP, 2 BB, 1 SO

Grady Hesson 1.1 IP, 0 BB, 2 SO

LP: David Kemppel 5 IP, 1 BB, 2 SO

Jordan Lorentz 1 IP, 0 BB, 1 SO

Middleport hitting: Jeremiah Martin 3-3, RBI; Brice Butcher 1-4, 2B; Brady Rockhold R; Blaise Gilmore 1-4, R; Zach Stewart 1-3, R; Bradley Dillon 1-3, R, RBI

Beverly/Lowell (15-7-1) hitting: Jack McCurdy 2-3, 3B, 3 Rs, RBI; Easton Walker 2-4, 2 RBIs, R; Kainan Bradford 1-2, R; Witten Schaad 1-4; Hesson 1-4, 2 Rs, RBI; Caden Henniger 2-3, RBI; Duskey 2-2, RBI, R; Kam Johnson R

Next game: Utica at Beverly/Lowell, 6 p.m. Friday