Jackson Junior Legion a win away from regional title

The Jackson Post 158 Junior Legion baseball team advanced to the championship game of is regional tournament with a convincing win on Saturday afternoon.

Post 158, the Missouri state champion, defeated the Minnesota state champion team from Minnetonka, Minnesota 9-3 in the winner's bracket final in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Jackson will face the winner of a contest between Minnesota and South Dakota -- two teams Post 158 already has defeated -- today at 10 a.m. Jackson will need just one win to claim the regional title while its opposition will have to win twice thanks to the double-elimination format.

"We've beaten both of them already, but we know anything can happen tomorrow," Jackson coach Shelby Kight said.

Kight said he didn't think familiarity with an opponent -- no matter the previous result -- was important.

"I don't think it really matters who we play," Kight said. "We know we just have to focus on the things we can control and play our game. It doesn't really matter who we're playing."

Jackson fell behind 1-0 in the top of the second inning but replied with two runs in the bottom of the inning on Zach Elfrink's sacrifice fly and Garret Reynolds RBI hit.

Jackson added a run in the third on Ben Maudie's hit and then scored five times in the fourth. Post 158 recorded five consecutive singles in the fourth, which were followed by a walk and a two-run double by Skylar Pease.

Ryan Mize capped the Jackson scoring with an RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth.

Tyler Slinkard collected the win on the mound for Post 158. He gave up two runs in the top of the sixth and exited with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh. Maudie, who will start today's championship, got the final out of the game.

"In the middle innings he was pretty dominant," Kight said of Slinkard. "He kind of got tired there toward the end. It was a warmer day than what we've had here, but I thought he was pretty dominant, especially in the middle innings. He had very quick innings there in the third and fourth, so he threw very well."

Cameron Duke was 3 for 3 for Jackson while Reynolds, Maudie, Mize, Pease and Jay Hutchison had two hits apiece.

"We're playing with a lot of confidence right now overall," Kight said. "That's the biggest key."

"I can just tell by the way the boys are carrying themselves. There's no doubt in their mind that they're [going] to make plays. They don't doubt themselves at all or their teammates."

Pitchers' streak extended in Friday win

Post 158 won its sixth consecutive game with a 5-2 victory over the Kansas state champion from McPherson, Kansas, on Friday.

One common thread in all of those games was that the pitcher who started on the mound for Jackson finished the game on the mound.

Friday afternoon it was Gavon Turner who went the distance for Jackson.

"It's been absolutely incredible," Kight said following the game. "The effort on the mound we've gotten since the state tournament began has been awesome. You can't ask any more out of the pitchers, and saving our bullpen has really been big for us."

Jackson, which never trailed, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning on Triston Thele's two-RBI double.

"There's two strikes and two outs on Triston, and he came up and hammered one right down the line," Kight said. "He really took what the pitcher gave him and put a good swing on it. Being able to score first is one of our big keys to winning a baseball game, and that was big for him to come through right there."

Kansas scored once in the bottom of the inning, but Post 158 manufactured two runs in the top of the fourth to extend its lead to 4-1. Jackson was out-hit 7-4 in the game but drew five walks and had two players hit by pitches.

"It was a really tight game, a matchup of two really good teams," Kight said. "Luckily we put a lot of pressure on their defense and their pitcher once we got on base. They had a very good team. They hit the ball well, but I think Turner and our defense really came through for us today. The defense made several good plays."

Neither team committed an error in the contest.

Slinkard had an RBI single in the top of the fifth for Jackson, and Kansas added a run in the bottom half of the inning to cap the scoring.

Turner allowed seven hits over seven innings of work. He struck out five and walked two.

"The strike zone was a little tight at times, but when you have two good teams that's kind of to be expected," Kight said. "He just battled. They didn't really square him up too many times. He had command of his pitches. I thought he threw pretty well."