Area Junior Legion teams begin Zone 4 tourney today

The Jackson Junior Legion Post 158 baseball team has experienced what coach Shelby Kight calls "a trickle-down effect of winning" the past two years.

Post 158 won its second straight district title last week and will begin play in the Junior Legion Zone 4 tournament today at Jackson City Park.

Kight said starting his players early and allowing them to get acquainted with each other allows a team to blossom.

"I think the fact that we start them so early builds a great foundation for the entire program," Kight said. "We've got a pretty elite program all the way from the eighth-grade team up to the senior team. Luckily, those younger teams are experiencing success, and I think that bodes well for us at the junior level."

Kight said his team has confidence heading into the five-team tournament.

"I wouldn't call us the favorite or anything like that, but we fully expect to win," Kight said. "We know it's going to be competitive and that it's going to be a battle. We're going to have success in this tournament."

Post 158 will rely heavily on its bevy of pitchers. Kight said he has four starting pitchers he expects to lead the team through the tournament.

Tyler Slinkard of Jackson High School has the most wins among the four starters, with six. Kight said Slinkard's fastball has been dominant all season, and he mixes an occasional breaking ball to keep batters honest.

Zach Elfrink of Leopold and Gavin Turner and Ben Maude of Jackson round out the starting pitchers.

Kight is unsure of who he will start in today's game, but he said he would be comfortable starting any of them.

"I think it all starts with our pitchers," Kight said. "Those four guys are excellent starting pitchers, and I have no problem turning any one of them loose and letting them control the tempo in a game."

Post 158 has a first-round bye and awaits the winner of Cape Junior Legion Post 63 vs. Eureka game at 3 p.m.

Kight said every team in the zone has a good shot of winning.

"Any team that gets to this point is going to be a quality team," Kight said. "So we're not going to look past anyone. The field is very wide open."

Cape Junior Legion Post 63 coach Tatum Kitchen feels the same way about his team's chances.

Post 63 finished 12-14 and lost in the first round of the district tournament to Scott County Junior Legion, 10-3.

"At this point you start fresh, you almost have a second chance," Kitchen said. "We didn't have the best season, but it's a new day. You can't really look at just one team; you want to beat them all so you can win the zone."

Kitchen said he will look to Clayton Reynolds of Central to set the tone for Cape in its opening game. Reynolds leads Post 63 with a .412 batting average and 20 RBIs. The first baseman has been a leader all summer.

"He's a pretty vocal kid," Kitchen said. "I think if he's hitting, all the guys will be. He's good at telling his teammates what he sees from different pitchers, which allows for some adjustment on their part, at the plate."

Kitchen also said he defines his team as a competitive group. They're not an elite group and haven't been all summer, but they don't quit.

"That's something I admire in a team," Kitchen said. "We work very hard, play very hard and can stay in games. Our pitching and defense have allowed for that."

Blake Klett, who has been Post 63's most consistent pitcher with a 2.78 ERA, will start on the mound today.

Kitchen said all of his starters will keep them in games if the defense is good.

"Our pitching has been solid, but they have to rely on defense," Kitchen said. "None of our pitchers are dominant at getting strikeouts, so we have to play good defense behind them."

The Eureka Freshman Legion team won the state tournament last year. Many of the players on that team have advanced to the Eureka Junior Legion team. Post 63 has not played Eureka this summer, but Kitchen said he's not worried about it.

"We just talked about playing good baseball no matter if it's Ste. Gen or Jackson," Kitchen said. "You never know about these kind of tournaments. Jackson could be the best team left in Missouri, but we could still knock them or any one of these teams off."