Jackson freshmen roll, 7-1

The Jackson Freshmen American Legion Post 158 baseball team continues to roll at the state tournament in Branson, Mo.

Jackson (27-6-1) improved to 2-0 in the tournament with Thursday's 7-1 victory over Washington.

Jeremiah McGuire pitched six innings for the win, allowing five hits and one run. He struck out six and walked two.

Seth Bollinger finished up on the mound with a perfect seventh inning.

Ben Maudie went 3 for 4 to lead Jackson's nine-hit attack. Austin Bucher added two hits.

Jackson and Eureka are the only remaining squads without a tournament loss. They'll meet at 3 p.m. today in the winners bracket final.

Junior Legion

The Jackson Junior American Legion Post 158 baseball team got off to a rough start at the Zone 4 Tournament in Festus, Mo.

Jackson suffered just its sixth loss of the season as Ste. Genevieve romped 13-3 Thursday night. The game, scheduled for seven innings, was stopped after five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

"It was a tough game for us," Jackson coach Gerald Adams said. "But I think we'll bounce back [today]."

Jackson (33-6) managed only four hits, two by Jonathan Litchfield. Wyatt Eldridge drove in two runs.

Hayden Clark was the losing pitcher, allowing five runs -- just two earned -- in three innings. Four errors over the opening three frames hurt Jackson's cause.

Ste. Genevieve finished with 10 hits.

Jackson will play an elimination game at 7 p.m. today against either Thoman-Boothe or Park Hills.

Senior Babe Ruth

The host Charleston Fighting Squirrels got off to an impressive start at the Senior Babe Ruth state tournament Thursday night, beating Leopold 10-0 in five innings.

Charleston (42-9) scored two unearned runs off Leopold starter Justin Landewee, an all-state selection from Notre Dame, in the bottom of the second inning. The Squirrels added four runs on four hits in the fourth and another four runs in the fifth.

Eric Urhahn, Jake Dobbelare and Josh Douglas each had one hit for Leopold.

Cord Sheehy went 2-3 with an RBI for Charleston and stole home for his team's second run in the second inning.

Caleb McCord and Tyler Anderson both collected two RBIs.

Charleston will face Potosi at 7:30 p.m. today while Leopold will face either Poplar Bluff or Mineral Area at noon on Saturday in the 10-team, double-elimination tournament.

Thursday's other game saw East Prairie rally past Jackson 15-13.

Jackson scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a four-run lead, but East Prairie answered with nine runs in the top of the seventh.

Nathan Hurst and Marc Rivas both had two hits and three RBIs for Jackson. Ethan Mirly was 3 for 3 with a double.

Jackson will face the loser of today's game between Arch City and Oran at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

-- From staff reports