Semoball

Jackson Senior Legion baseball bunts its way past Ste. Genevieve in zone tournament opener

Ste. Genevieve Post 150 catcher Cole Wood reaches to tag out Jackson Post 158 's Jay Newell during the first inning of a game in the Senior Legion Zone 4 Tournament at Whitey Herzog Stadium in Jackson.
Andrew J. Whitaker

Bunts can be difference makers in a close baseball game, and on Tuesday night they made all the difference.

Sparked by four consecutive bunts in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Jackson Post 158 Senior Legion baseball team rallied past Ste. Genevieve and held on for a 5-4 victory in the opening round of the Zone 4 Tournament at Whitey Herzog Stadium in Jackson.

Two days after suffering a heartbreaking end to its string of district titles, Post 158 (20-19) found a way to win a one-run ball game after falling to Cape Girardeau Post 63 8-7 on Sunday and losing to the same Ste. Genevieve squad earlier in the season, 4-3.

"I think we just made more plays," Jackson coach Mark Lewis said. "The bunts gave us a little juice there and we were able to score some runs. I mean, a lot of the games are tight between us. They've got a good ball club and we just came out on top."

Post 158 will face Eureka at 7 p.m. today in a winner's bracket quarterfinal.

Jackson Post 158 s Jay Newell reaches for the ball during Legion Zone opener between Jackson Post 158 and Ste. Genevieve Post 150 Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at Herzog Field in Jackson. Jackson won 5-4.
Andrew J. Whitaker

Trailing 3-2 entering the bottom of the sixth inning on Tuesday, Jackson got a single from leadoff hitter Colten Weber to set up an unconventional game-changing series of events.

Tyler Knight attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt for Post 158, but a picture-perfect dribbler down the first-base line turned into an infield single.

As Jackson continued to attempt to sacrifice its runners forward, Post 150 couldn't adapt.

Ste. Genevieve (20-10) got aggressive on a Carson Barnes bunt, attempting to get the lead runner at third but instead throwing the ball away to allow Weber to score the tying run and put two runners in scoring position.

Jakoata Walther then dropped down a bunt that saw an attempt to get the runner at home fail, plating the go-ahead run.

By the time Ste. Genevieve successfully grabbed a fielder's choice out at second base on a Wyatt Ladure bunt, it was enough to score another run and give Jackson a 5-3 edge that held up the rest of the way.

"When you have nobody out you put the bunt down and then they throw the ball away -- he threw the ball to third when they had the play at first -- and then it's, I don't know, more of a feel," Lewis said. "You get another one and then you're like, 'Well, heck, let's try it again.' The situation kind of dictated that. We weren't getting runners in so we tried something different."

Post 158 made enough big defensive plays to allow the lead to stand, as Ste. Genevieve stranded 12 base runners in the game.

One of the most conspicuous came in the eighth inning, after Tyler Bloom hit a leadoff single, advanced on a pair of wild pitches and scored on a sacrifice fly with two outs, cutting Jackson's lead to 5-4.

That left runners on the corners with four-hole hitter Jacob Bieser at the plate, and set up a double-steal attempt on a 2-2 count. Post 158 pitcher Barnes turned to throw to second, but checked up and caught Nick Oberle dead to rights halfway down the third-base line. A simple 1-2-5 rundown turned the potential game-tying run into the final out of the inning less than 90 feet from home plate.

"That was a big play because they had two strikes on their hitter -- one of their better hitters -- and they try the double steal and we handle it," Lewis said.

Jackson's defense came through again in the top of the ninth inning, when it was again Bieser at the plate, this time to open the inning, and a long, driven ball to deep center field was run down by Post 158 center fielder Knight. One out later, a base hit would have scored Bieser had he reached base.

"Tyler Knight has been outstanding in center field for us all year, and that was just a spectacular play," Lewis said.

Jackson also turned a pair of double plays in the game.

Barnes earned the win in relief on the mound, giving up one run on two hits in 3 2/3 innings of work, striking out two and walking one.

Jackson Post 158's Colten Weber throws a pitch during Legion Zone opener between Jackson Post 158 and Ste. Genevieve Post 150 Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at Herzog Field in Jackson. Jackson won 5-4.
Andrew J. Whitaker

Weber was the starter for Post 158, going 5 1/3 innings and allowing three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and seven walks. He threw 113 pitches.

"[Weber] was just a little up in the zone. Not much," Lewis said. "I felt like he had good velocity on it, but was just a little up.

"Carson did a great job for us. He kept his pitches down and he pitched well down the stretch. He made some big pitches for us."

Oberle was the losing pitcher for Ste. Genevieve, allowing five runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and a walk in six innings. Kaden Bauman threw two innings in relief and gave up just one hit, with two strikeouts and a walk.

The tournament hosts took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, getting an infield single from Drew Brown -- who went 3-for-4 on the day with a run scored and an RBI -- before an RBI base hit by Braeden Dobbs plated him.

Ste. Genevieve tied things at 1 in the top of the third, getting a two-single from Cole Wood, who moved to second on a Bieser free pass and then scored on a single to right field by Drew Toombs.

A leadoff walk to Wood haunted Weber in the top of the fifth, as the Post 150 runner later scored on a wild pitch to make the score 2-1 before Jackson responded in the bottom half of the inning as Jakoata Walther (2-for-4 with an RBI) singled and came around on a one-out Brown hit for a 2-2 game.

Ste. Genevieve took a 3-2 advantage in the top of the sixth as leadoff hitter Tyler Bloom singled, moved up on a sacrifice and later scored.

But Post 150 had no answer for the hosts' bunts.

"You won one. That's all it is," Lewis said. "You've got another game tomorrow and you've got to come out and prepare yourself the right way and get ready to go. Eureka's got a great ball club and has had a great team over the years. We've run into them several times in the zone. They're coached well and they do a good job."

Ste. Genevieve001011010--481
Jackson10001300x--592

WP -- Carson Barnes. LP -- Nick Oberle. 2B -- Oberle (SG). Multiple hits -- Ste. Genevieve: Oberle 2-5, Drew Toombs 2-3, Tyler Bloom 2-4; Jackson: Drew Brown 3-4, Jakoata Walther 2-4.

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