WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — On a different night and under different circumstances, Wednesday’s senior American Legion baseball matchup between White River Junction Post 84 and Lebanon Post 22 at the Maxfield Sports Complex might have ended with tempers inflamed.

Lebanon won, 10-9, on Zach Aldrich’s walk-off single after taking advantage of a mildly disputed offensive interference call during the previous inning. Given that the teams were meeting in the Bob Ammel exhibition, however, Post 84 tipped its collective cap and the sides posed together for a postgame photo with the event’s towering trophy.

“Everybody won tonight, but we happened to come out a bit ahead on the scoreboard,” said Post 22 coach Chauncey Wood, whose 13-5 squad opens New Hampshire tournament play Friday as District A’s second seed. Last year’s team went 1-17, losing its last 13 contests and sending longtime coach Rob Woodward into retirement under somber circumstances.

“It was really tough and a lot of trying to figure out where we were going wrong,” said Dom Van Leare-Nutting, who had two hits and two RBIs and drew a walk Wednesday while also pitching 2⅔ scoreless innings. “Late in games something wasn’t clicking, but this year we really come alive after the fourth inning.”

Post 84, playing as the visitors, trailed, 2-0, after an inning and led, 5-4, after two frames. White River Junction pushed its lead to 7-4 during the third and 9-7 during the fourth.

Lebanon scored twice during the sixth for a 9-9 tie when, with runners on second and third, Post 84 third baseman Nolan Pepe shuffled left after a grounder and collided with runner Felix Kreis.

After a pause, base umpire Tim Leonard ruled Kreis out to end the inning but also that the tying run had crossed the plate before the collision. Wood clearly disagreed but given the night’s mellow vibe, merely waved his hands in the air.

“We started off hot and kept the train rolling tonight, and it feels like no game is out of reach for us,” said Van Leare-Nutting, a 2022 Fall Mountain graduate who attended Castleton University before recently leaving for the work force. “After the first or second game this season, I saw we now had speed and a change in our energy.”

WRJ coach Dylan Spencer took a relaxed approach to the game, using numerous players in positions to which they’re unaccustomed, including catcher and pitcher. Post 84 is in one of those classic Legion logjams that seem to occur at the end of every season, numerous teams having to make up numerous games and no one sure of exactly who’s in this weekend’s state tournament until practically its first pitch.

“I needed something to loosen up the guys a bit,” Spencer said. “We’ve been struggling, so I thought we’d move guys around and have more enjoyment for the game and give some guys a breather.

“We made some mental mistakes with guys playing out of position, but I was trying to manage pitch counts so we could keep guys available for the next few days.”

Seven Post 84 players each had a hit, with Jake Gilman also having two RBIs.

Notes: The game was played in memory of the late Bob Ammel, a Hartford High athlete during the early 1970s and a dedicated local umpire who was killed in an automotive crash in 2016. His daughter, Kylie Young, said more than $10,000 in scholarships have been awarded since the first such contest was played in 2017. … Spencer, a 2017 Hartford High graduate, is a 24-year old University of Vermont graduate who works for a Lebanon engineering firm. He’s an assistant for the Hurricanes boys basketball team and leads the JV B baseball team, also working with the varsity hardballs once his lower-level schedule concludes. … Post 84’s Ethan Belvin is a Windsor native who played at Bridgton Academy in Maine last school year. … White River Junction features a Kimball Union Academy student, Leo Barta, who’s a Thetford resident. Thetford Academy contributes Justin Robinson, Nolan Pepe and Gilman, and White River Valley sends Wyatt Cadwell. … Van Leare-Nutting threw a six-inning no-hitter against Bedford during Post 22’s previous game. … Lebanon played without star outfielder Nick Brill, who’s spending time on the soccer camp recruiting trail, most recently at Penn State and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.