Jackson Legion uses big first inning to rout Cape 20-2

Five hits and five RBIs was enough for Cody Harris.

The Jackson Senior American Legion Post 158 third baseman can wait another day for baseball's rare cycle.

He had the first three phases covered in a 20-2 win over Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons Senior Legion on Monday at Capaha Field.

Harris' first two RBIs came in the first inning when Post 158 scored 12 runs on 11 hits. He later added two singles, a double and a triple in a game cut short to seven innings due to the 10-run rule.

Harris went 5-for-5 for Post 158, which finished with 25 hits.

Harris said he had come close to hitting for a cycle one other time.

"I kind of knew I was close to getting it, but I wasn't sure," Harris said about the cycle. "You always want to get the cycle. It's a great accomplishment to have, but I'm more focused on putting the ball in play."

Harris attributes the success on offense to extra work in the batting cage, something the whole team is doing on a weekly basis.

"I think a big thing is the fact that before our games, especially away games, we'll go hit at the cages and get a lot of work in, and I think it's starting to pay off." Harris said.

Harris said he and his teammates made the decision midway through the summer season, when they weren't hitting as well, to put in the extra effort at the plate. During their off days, Post 158 goes to Jackson Junior High School to work on swings, stances and other improvements that need to be made.

"We make sure that we're in there to get better," Harris said. "We can always get better, but to do that we have to stay in the cage and keep practicing. This isn't like during the school year where you have practice every day; you have to do this on your own, and I think guys are starting to realize that."

Extra work during off days seems to be paying off for the rest of the Post 158 lineup. Each player had at least one hit in the win, and all but two players had multiple hits.

"The last couple of weeks we've been hot, scoring runs early and getting the lead," Harris said. "Lately we've been kind of shutting it down after we scored in the first, but today we kept the peddle down and put it on them."

Two consecutive hits by Ryan O'Rear and Steven Porzelt started things of for Post 158 in the first. Ryan Harvey followed with a walk to load the bases before Kyle James singled to score O'Rear and Porzelt for a 2-0 lead.

James went 4-for-5 and had three RBIs.

Harris followed with his first single to drive in Harvey for a 3-0 advantage. Harris was retired for the only time in the game when he hit a sacrifice fly which scored Harvey to make it 11-0. The sac fly came during his second at-bat in the first.

The first nine batters reached base and scored before Post 63 recorded the first out of the inning. A total of 17 batters came to the plate for Post 158 in the top of the first, which lasted 30 minutes.

Landon Mills tripled in the inning to score Hayden Clark, who had reached on an error, to make it 6-0. Kelby Brown, Post 158's ninth-place hitter highlighted the inning with a two-run home run to increase the lead to 9-0. Mills drove in the 12th run of the inning on an RBI single with two outs. Mills went 3-for-6 and had three RBIs.

Post 158 went on to score a run in the third, two in the fourth, two in the sixth and three in the seventh.

Matt Chism scored Post 63's only two runs of the game, and Calvin Lovig had the only two RBIs. Chism singled with one out in the first and was driven in on a triple by Lovig. In the third, Chism hit a triple to lead off the inning and scored on a Lovig groundout.

Chism was 3-for-4 for Post 63, which finished with seven hits.

Post 158 coach Mark Lewis said he was proud of his team's performance.

"It was good to get going and see us get the bats going, but there is still a lot to do," Lewis said.

Post 158 (28-5) is 5-0 in district play and will have the top seed in the upcoming district tournament.

"It means absolutely nothing," Lewis said about being the No. 1 seed in the district tournament. "I've never been the one seed and won it, which shows just how little a regular-season record means. You've got to have your guys ready to play at that moment."

Post 63 coach Justin Lieser also believes regular-season records mean little.

"People might think I'm a little crazy for saying this after a lopsided loss like tonight, but I like our team," Lieser said about his team's chances of winning the district tournament. "A game like this doesn't portray what kind of team we have, and that's kind of the frustrating part. Any time a team has that many hits, you're not going to win. We will set that one aside and start fresh tomorrow."

Jackson (12)01 202 3 -- 20 25 1

Cape 101 000 0 -- 2 7 6

WP -- Michael Houchin. LP -- Tyler Essner. HR -- Kelby Brown (J). 3B -- Landon Mills (J), Cody Harris (J), Matt Chism (C), Calvin Lovig (C). 2B -- Ryan Harvey (J), Kyle James (J), Cody Harris (J). Multiple hitters -- Jackson: Ryan O'Rear 3-5, Ryan Harvey 3-5, Kyle James 4-5, Cody Harris 5-5, Hayden Clark 2-6, Landon Mills 3-6, Lane Thompson 3-5. Cape: Matt Chism 3-4. Records: Jackson 28-5, Cape 14-10.