Hometown hosts open Kelso Klassic fastpitch softball tournament with a 3-2 victory

KELSO, Mo. -- When he was through, Tom Jansen could hardly stand up. Plagued by sciatica since the winter, he admits he's no longer young and in his prime. But moments earlier you wouldn't have known either -- the past-his-prime or the testy nerve.

Jansen struck out nine with no walks, scattering five hits in seven innings of work to help lead his Kelso Fastpitch team past the St. Charles Tribe in the opener of the 32nd Annual Kelso Klassic fastpitch softball tournament Friday night, as the hosts got things started with a 3-2 victory.

"It's definitely good to get a good win the first night in front of everybody," Jansen said. "All the hometown people come out to watch us and it's good to have the support."

Kelso's Clayton Eftink singles against St. Charles during the first inning of the first game of the Kelso Klassic on Friday, June 10, 2016 in Kelso, Missouri.Fred Lynch

The Tribe grabbed an early run when Brian Pogue singled to open the game and later scored on a base hit by Colby Miller.

St. Charles' Taylor Crews then victimized Jansen for a leadoff home run in the top of the second inning, giving the Tribe a 2-0 lead, but Jansen was in control from there. He retired the next 10 straight batters.

"I [put] the first batter of the game [on] and he ended up scoring and then I gave up the bomb in the second inning," Jansen said. "I thought it was a good pitch -- it was down and out -- but he went with it and hit it over the fence. But the guys didn't give up, came back and put a few hits together."

Kelso was able to put the ball in play enough to make some things happen, getting a friendly bounce and capitalizing on a couple of St. Charles mistakes to swing in front.

Jerry Wolsey led off the bottom of the second with a walk for the hosts, and Justin Landewee walked with two outs, bringing Josh DeBrock to the plate. The catcher singled into right to score Wolsey, and when the right fielder couldn't get a handle on the ball, Landewee came home to score and knot things at 2.

The next time Kelso came to the plate, it took the lead for good.

David Headley reached on a one-out, two-base error at third in the top of the third inning, and Josh Jansen then dropped a bloop double just inside the left-field line, getting a friendly roll into foul territory and allowing Headley to score the go-ahead run.

Clayton Eftink was 2-for-4 on the night for Kelso, while Landewee was 2-for-2 with a run scored.

St. Charles could not muster a response against Tom Jansen. No Tribe batter reached base again until the fifth inning, when a pop-up into shallow center field found grass in no-man's land for a bloop double. But Jansen struck out the next batter and then induced a pop-up to second to end the inning.

Kelso's Josh Jansen reaches third base safely as St. Charles third baseman Brian Pogue covers on the play during the third inning of the first game of the Kelso Klassic on Friday, June 10, 2016 in Kelso, Missouri.Fred Lynch

Dan Drury led off the top of the sixth with a seeing-eye single for St. Charles, and a fielder's choice and wild pitch put the tying run in scoring position. But Jansen buckled down for a seven-pitch battle with Ryan Graf, who fouled off four pitches before ultimately looking at strike three to end the inning and strand the runner at second base.

"I got in a groove and had several pitches working," Jansen said. "[Graf] was on it and I threw four rise balls in a row, went down and in and threw it in the dirt and then came back with a rise ball and he fouled it off. I threw a knuckle ball and it just froze him and it got us out of the inning. That was big."

Jansen sat down the side in order in the top of the seventh, fittingly closing the game on back-to-back whiffs to push Kelso into the second round.

The hosts will face the winner of Saturday night's late contest between Peublo (Colo.) and McMahon Meats (Teutopolis, Ill.) in the double-elimination bracket.

"Pueblo didn't come from Colorado for nothing," Jansen said.

"We've got a lot of young kids and there's a learning curve. The pitcher we saw tonight was decent, but you're going to see some pitching that's pretty tough. Our young boys, they might struggle with that a little bit. We've just got to play good defense and I've got to throw good. If we keep them from scoring then you've got a chance. You've got to keep the runs down."

Kelso's Josh Jansen starts his slide as he reaches third base safely on a single by Jerry Wolsey against St. Charles during the third inning of the first game of the Kelso Klassic on Friday, June 10, 2016 in Kelso, Missouri.Fred Lynch

In Friday night's other early game, Pete's Blues (Mascoutah, Ill.) defeated the Belleville (Ill.) Stallions 3-0.

Before the tournament kicked off, the 1991 River Eagle Distributing team that won the tournament championship was honored. That hometown team went 6-1, winning five straight games in the loser's bracket to capture the title. Larry Eftink, who plays for the current iteration of the Kelso squad, is the only member still actively playing -- his 30 consecutive years playing in the Kelso Klassic is a record. Doug Dirnberger, who was a member of the 1991 team, threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Friday.

St. Charles 110 000 0 -- 2 5 2

Kelso 021 000 x -- 3 7 0

WP -- Tom Jansen. LP -- Colby Miller. 2B -- Brandon Graf (SC), Josh Jansen (K). HR -- Taylor Crews (SC). Multiple hits -- Kelso: Clayton Eftink 2-4, Justin Landewee 2-2.