Jackson American Legion team wins pair to stay alive in district tourney

~ Bartels tossed a no-hitter vs. Sikeston in the second game

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Jackson Senior American Legion pitcher Logan Bartels took the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning with a 17-run lead over Sikeston.

That normally would make for an inning of stress-free pitching, but Bartels had a couple other things on his mind Saturday night.

The first was the no-hitter he was throwing.

"The seventh inning?," he said when asked if he was thinking about the no-hitter. "Yeah. I'm not going to lie."

The second thing he was thinking about was his inability to hold on to the ball.

"I was drenched with sweat," he said. "I couldn't grip the ball because my hands were soaked. Finally coach came out and was talking to me and was asking me why I was so jumpy."

Bartels walked the first two batters in the inning and threw three wild pitches, which allowed a Sikeston run to score before coach Mark Lewis provided him with some much needed help during a visit to the mound.

"I can't say anything about the no-hitter, so I'm not going to say anything," Bartels said about his response to Lewis. "I was like, 'I don't know, I'm just jumpy and I can't grip the ball because my hands are wet.

"He was like, 'Here, wipe it on my shirt.' I wiped them on his shirt and finally could grip the ball."

Bartels retired three of the last four batters he faced to seal his no-hitter, a 17-1 run-rule win and a place for his team in today's championship round.

He walked four batters, hit one and two errors were committed in the field.

"It was exciting, Bartels said. "I mean, we won tonight, but we've got two more tomorrow. We got to win those. Those are the big games."

Jackson will have to defeat Dunklin County twice today to advance to the Zone 4 tournament later in the week at Capaha Field. Today's first game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. at Sikeston's VFW Stadium.

Dunklin County defeated Jackson 5-0 on Friday behind a 20-strikeout, one-hit performance from Tyler Thompson, but the Jackson offense showed no signs of a hangover Saturday.

"Offensively I think that we continued to put pressure on the other team, just set the pace all day, and that's a big thing," Lewis said. "The other night, the game with Dunklin County the first time, they got up on us, and it's a different game. So absolutely, today being able to stay on them and kind of being able to control the tempo was good."

Jackson scored eight times in the first two innings and did not trail in either of its victories Saturday.

"It takes the pressure off your defense," Lewis said. "It takes the pressure off your pitcher. He can relax. If he makes a mistake and gives up a hit, a double, a home run or whatever, it's still 6-1. It's not a big deal because the big thing is if a team continues to put pressure on you, it's just a different game."

Third baseman Dylan Koehler reached base five times against Sikeston. He had three hits and four RBIs, two of which came on his fifth-inning homer.

"I saw it go over," said Koehler, who was urged to rush around the bases as the Sikeston defenders lost track of the ball in the twilight. "No one else saw it go over. They were yelling at me to run the bases."

Center fielder Joel Koenig was 4 for 6 with two RBIs. Catcher Chase Simmons was 3 for 4 while Alex Bolen and Jake Conklin both added two hits in Jackson's 20-hit outing, which allowed it to cut the scheduled nine-inning game short thanks to the run rule.

"I think it's important for us to get home and get to bed," Lewis said. "Yes, absolutely. The 1 o'clock game will come quickly."

Jackson eliminates Cape

Jackson advanced earlier in the day by defeating defending district champion Cape Girardeau Ford and Sons Post 63 8-4 in an elimination game.

Clearwater graduate Chris Kirkpatrick started for Jackson opposite his high school teammate Logan Morris.

Kirkpatrick gave up one run over 4 2/3 innings before yielding to Mason Sander.

"I thought he pitched well," Jackson coach Mark Lewis said. "His pitch count got up pretty quick. In a close game in a big game like that, elimination, you've got to make pitches and you put a little more effort into it. He tried to be a little too fine, I think, but it was good. It was what we needed.

"He was up there around 100 pitches and I felt like he was dying out and that was the time to go."

Jackson took a 2-0 in the second inning on an error and an RBI single by Ian Householder. It never trailed.

Brett Thomas hit a two-run homer for Jackson in the top of the seventh inning.

"I think that that's a credit to the kids right there because that's not easy," Lewis said, referring to his team's rebound from Friday's loss. "I'm going to tell you right now, as good or bad as it's been, to come out and get struck out 20 times and be able to come back and get in the saddle so to speak was a big thing."

Post 63 loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning to bring the tying run to the plate, but Sander struck out Morris to end the game.

Although its tournament ended with back-to-back losses to lower seeds, Post 63's season will go on.

Cape was granted a free pass into the zone tournament because it will serve as the host.