Fighting Squirrels' pitching shuts down Cape Senior Legion

The Charleston Fighting Squirrels Senior Babe Ruth baseball team received a combined shutout on the mound and defeated Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons Post 63 Senior Legion 7-0 on Monday at Capaha Field.

Garrison Keene got the start for Charleston (2-2) and secured the pitching win in 4 2/3 innings of work. He allowed two hits with seven strikeouts and four walks before being relieved by Brady Bibbs, who struck out two and walked two in 1 1/3 hitless innings.

Gavon Turner pitched the final three innings for the Fighting Squirrels, allowing two hits with five strikeouts and no walks.

"Our pitching was legit tonight," Charleston coach Michael Minner said. "I thought we did a good job. We challenged, worked down in the zone, worked in and sawed off some bats. One thing that we want to do with our guys is we want them to learn how to pitch, and I think working in is a big part and probably not utilized as much in high school.

"In the summer, we want these guys to learn to throw their fastballs inside and run it in under hands and see how good of guys we're facing. Our pitching was tremendous."

Palmer Campbell blasted a triple to right-center to lead off the top of the first inning before an RBI groundout by Braeden Dobbs gave Charleston a 1-0 lead.

The Fighting Squirrels didn't score again until the top of the eighth when Blake Wolferding plated Dobbs, who reached on a walk, with a one-out double into deep left off Post 63 reliever Ross Essner. Two batters later, Wyatt Pratt added to Charleston's lead with a two-run triple to left before Ty Householder, who finished 3-for-3, gave the Fighting Squirrels a 5-0 advantage with an RBI base hit up the middle.

An RBI single by Dobbs and a wild pitch allowed Charleston to extend its lead to 7-0 in the top of the ninth.

Post 63's Ryan Tegel looks on as he awaits an at-bat during Tuesday's game.

Minner wasn't pleased to see several base-running blunders but was happy to see things come together later in the game.

"We want to be aggressive, and when you want to be aggressive, you're going to have to deal with a little bit of that," Minner said. "These guys are still learning me and learning a new system."

Cape (2-4) struggled to find consistency on the mound, as three pitchers combined to issue 13 walks.

JT Moore started and was tagged with the loss in seven innings of work. He scattered five hits, allowed one earned run, struck out four batters and walked eight. Essner gave up four earned runs on three hits with one strikeout and three walks in an inning of relief before Ryan Tegel closed the game out in the ninth, allowing two earned runs on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

"JT pitched his tail off tonight. He didn't have his best stuff working but kept us in the game up until the eighth," Cape coach Justin Lieser said. "It's a credit to their pitching staff, too."

Garrett Siebert had two of Post 63's four hits, finishing with a double and a triple.

"He got off to a great start," Lieser said. "Unfortunately we just couldn't get anyone on in front of him tonight. Â… We definitely need to start swinging the bats better."

Jon Kellams added a pair of hits for Charleston, which combined for 11 hits, including eight in the final three innings.

Cape returns to action with a doubleheader against Carrier Mills, Illinois, at 6 p.m. today at Capaha Field, while Charleston will take on the Missouri Outlaws in a doubleheader at 2 p.m. today at Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Missouri.

"We've been off for a week," Minner said. "It's been raining like crazy, so to get on the field tonight and get everybody in the ball game and our pitchers to throw as well as they did, it's always good to come out of here with a win."

"We play for the end of the year, so every day is a try-out with these guys. Ultimately I'm trying to find my best nine that are going to help us compete in the state tournament and hopefully take us beyond to play in a regional and in the World Series."

Charleston 100 000 042 -- 7 11 2

Post 63 000 000 000 -- 0 4 1

WP -- Garrison Keene. LP -- JT Moore. 2B -- Blake Wolferding (Charleston), Garrett Siebert (Post 63), Trevor Haas (Post 63). 3B -- Wyatt Pratt (Charleston), Siebert (Post 63). Multiple hits -- Charleston: Jon Kellams 2-3, Ty Householder 3-3; Post 63: Siebert 2-3.