The West Fargo Patriots advanced to the Central Plains Regional final, but ultimately saw their season end there at the hands of Lincoln (Neb.) Post 500, falling 6-3 on Sunday, Aug. 10, at Starion Bank Field in Fargo.

Lincoln Post 500 advanced to the American Legion College World Series in Shelby, N.C., as a result. The eight-team field begins play on Thursday, Aug. 14, with the tournament crowning a champion on Tuesday, Aug. 19. The tournament has been held at Veterans Field at Keeter Stadium since 2011, home to Gardner-Webb University.

Needing to win twice on Sunday to win the regional, West Fargo kept Lincoln off the board through the first three innings, but gave up six runs in the fourth, all with two outs. Lewis Cockle cleared the bases with a double to right. Landon Moser and Brodie McIntire followed with back-to-back home runs off West Fargo starting pitcher Luke Finn to give Lincoln (52-9-1) a 6-0 advantage.

The Patriots (45-16-1) got on the board in the sixth, trimming Lincoln’s lead in half. Jett Collins scored on a wild pitch from Jack Ohler and Tate Hermann doubled to bring in Brody Medina and Finn. That would be as close as West Fargo would get as Ohler pitched a clean seventh to send his team to North Carolina.

Santino Arranaga picked up the win for Lincoln, allowing two hits over 5 1/3 innings, striking out seven and walking one. Finn suffered the loss in 3 2/3 innings of work, allowing six runs on three hits, striking out one and walking four.

The Patriots finished 3-2 at the regional tournament after claiming their second consecutive state title and fourth in the last five years. They opened the tournament with a 4-0 victory over Grand Rapids Post 60 (Minn.) before dropping into the loser’s bracket following a 10-0 loss to Lincoln. West Fargo stayed alive twice, eliminating Yankton Post 12 (S.D.) and Shakopee Post 2 (Minn.) to advance to the title game.