ASHEBORO — Wayne County Post 11 was just six outs away from clinching a berth in the American Legion World Series on Sunday afternoon before the most successful season in program history slowly began to come to a painful end.

Wayne County couldn’t hold onto a 4-2 lead and eventually fell 5-4 to Troy, AL in the finals of the American Legion Southeast Regional at McCrary Park in Asheboro.

Post 11 defeated Troy 4-1 earlier on Sunday to set up a winner-take-all game for a trip to the World Series.

Wayne County ended its season with a record of 43-11 and won eight of its last ten games, including its first North Carolina American Legion state championship on July 25 in Cherryville.

Troy advanced to the American Legion World Series, which will be held Aug. 15-20 in Shelby.

Troy won the World Series in 2022 and earned a World Series berth a year ago.

Post 11 led 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning before Troy used an RBI triple and a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 4-4.

Cody Walsh’s RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning drove home the winning run and completed Troy’s comeback.

Wyatt Lassiter and Everett Johnson each had two hits for Wayne County. Post 11 had just one hit over the final four innings.

In Sunday’s first game, Lassiter, Johnson, Davis Albert, Joseph Buckley, and Drew Sweet each had a hit for Wayne County.

John McLamb pitched a complete game and allowed one run on four hits, with five strikeouts and a walk to earn the win on the mound.