Big inning haunts Cape Junior Legion in Zone 4 tournament

The Cape Post 63 Ford and Sons Junior American Legion baseball team would like to take back one inning of its opening game in the Zone 4 tournament at Jackson's Legion Field.

Just one inning, thank you.

Unfortunately for Post 63, that's against the rules, and Thursday afternoon's 13-5 loss to Eureka Post 177 will stand.

Eureka scored eight runs in the top of the third inning to wipe out Post 63's early lead and advanced in the winner's bracket and later defeated Jackson 3-1 in eight innings.

Cape dropped into the loser's bracket of the double-elimination tournament and faces Ballwin -- a loser to Ste. Genevieve on Thursday evening -- today at 5 p.m.

Jackson will face the winner of that game at 1 p.m. Saturday.

"The sad part is I thought both our pitchers threw very well today," Post 63 coach Tatum Kitchen said. "We just made errors. And at this level, in the Zone tournaments, you're playing good-hitting teams. The second and third times through the lineup, they were starting to get some better swings, and they can hit well. So you give them errors, you make a few bad plays, and they hit a few ropes, that's going to happen."

Clayton Reynolds had given Post 63 (12-15) a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning. But Eureka's first five batters reached base against Post 63 starting pitcher Blake Klett, with Connor McCann belting a two-run double and Nate Witherspoon following with a run-scoring single to give Eureka a 3-1 lead before Klett could record an out.

Josh Cliven then singled to load the bases, and that's when things began to unravel for Post 63. A potential inning-ending double-play grounder to short was booted, plating two more runs for Eureka. Giovanni Tuscano followed with a run-scoring single which skipped past the center fielder, allowing another run to score to make it 7-1. Gabe Haas relieved Klett on the mound and got out of the mess, allowing just a run-scoring sacrifice fly to center, but the damage had been done.

"We were able to keep the ball in play, and that's a really big thing for us," said Eureka skipper Ron Muse, whose team improved to 27-5. "We know if we can put pressure on a defense, we've got an opportunity. We just try to keep the ball in play, extend the inning and see if we can get some runs."

Post 63 scored once on Kaleb Ward's run-scoring single in the top of the fourth, but Eureka came back with three runs in the bottom of the frame to make it 11-2.

Still, Post 63 refused to fold. Andrew LeGrand's two-run single highlighted a three-run fifth which pulled Post 63 within 11-5. But they stranded a runner at third as Toscano, Eureka's starter on the mound, recorded an inning-ending strikeout.

"Gio's a really good pitcher for us," Muse said. "He's been strong for us all year. We knew this was going to be a tough game, and we needed to come out strong in the first game and make a statement. And I think we did that today."

Kitchen bemoaned a lack of timely hitting as Post 63 left seven runners on base, including six in scoring position.

"There were a couple innings that we thought if we could just get another hit, we could get two or three runs," Kitchen said. "But their pitcher just kind of shut it off."

Toscano went the distance for Eureka, allowing five runs -- four earned -- on 10 hits over seven innings. He walked two and struck out nine.

Catcher Trevor Haas was one of the few Post 63 hitters to solve Toscano, going 3 for 4 and scoring twice.

"He was throwing first-pitch strikes every time; we just weren't jumping up on him," Haas said. "We just couldn't hit him. ... We could have done better at the plate. It just wasn't too good for us."

Klett took the loss, allowing eight runs -- three earned -- on six hits over 2 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out two. Haas pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing five runs -- three earned -- on five hits, walking one and striking out four.

"I thought Gabe and Blake pitched good," Kitchen said. "We just made errors.We had a couple tailor-made double-play ground balls that would have bailed us out of innings, but we just booted them. Didn't play good enough to win in this setting."

Post 63 heads into today's contest needing a win to stay live in the tournament,

"We competed well," said Kitchen. "Competing will keep you from getting 10-runned [mercy rule]. It's not going to win. You've got to play well and compete. We're just going to have to come back and play better."

Eureka 008 302 0 -- 13 11 2

Cape 100 130 0 -- 5 10 4

WP: Giovanni Tuscano. LP: Blake Klett. 2B: Eureka -- Andrew Colin, Connor McCann. Multiple hits: Eureka -- Colin 3-4 (E), Josh Cliven 2-3 (E), Zach Husman 2-4 (E), Tuscano 2-4 (E), Trevor Haas 3-4 (C), Kaleb Ward 2-4 (C), Clayton Reynolds 2-4 (C). Records: Eureka 27-3, Cape 12-15.