Jackson Post 158 Senior Legion baseball team reaches District 14 title game

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Colten Weber demonstrated the ability to throttle opponents' baserunning games from behind the plate as a sophomore catcher at Jackson High School, helping the Indians' baseball team advance to the Class 5 quarterfinals this past spring.

On Friday night, Weber demonstrated the ability to keep runners in place from on the mound for the Jackson Post 158 Senior American Legion baseball team in the District 14 tournament.

Weber struck out 11 Sikeston Post 114 batters and stranded 10 runners on the basepaths as top-seeded Jackson reached the championship game with a 13-3 run-rule victory at VFW Memorial Stadium.

Jackson improved to 25-15 win the win in reaching Saturday's noon championship game, where it will face Cape Girardeau Post 63 (18-15). Cape defeated Sikeston 5-2 in an elimination game late Friday night.

The winner of the three-team tournament will advance to the five-team Zone 4 tournament that begins Thursday in Farmington, Missouri.

Post 158 was pursuing its fourth consecutive district title, and coach Mark Lewis welcomed the complete-game performance in what could be three games in two days for his squad.

"That was fortunate," said Lewis, whose team has gone 4-1 this season against Sikeston. "We were able to get off offensively on them and get some traffic and close the game out, so yeah, I didn't have to worry about getting his pitch count way up. That's always good."

Jackson banged out 14 hits, including six doubles.

First baseman Wyatt Eldridge had two of the doubles, including a two-run shot in the right-center field gap in the third inning that extended Jackson's lead to 6-1.

"Our team was really seeing the ball well today," Eldridge said. "We came in today as a team and attacked it as a team and put it on them. That's really good against a team like this, because they can hit really well as well."

Eldridge, who graduated from Jackson in May, was the Indians catcher for most of his senior year before breaking the wrist on his glove hand near the end of the regular season. Weber took his place and proved to be an enforcer, throwing out a pair of Poplar Bluff would-be stealers in a 2-1 win over Poplar Bluff in the Class 5 District 1 title game.

"I caught a lot during the high school season, but now that we've got the new kid coming in and catching a little bit, I'm able to pitch more," said Weber about rising Jackson senior Tristen Burdette, who was behind the plate Friday.

Weber said he attended a pitching camp earlier this summer and has implemented a pitching regimen.

"He can play a lot of positions," Lewis said. "He's not just one thing. Pitching has come on -- the last two or three outings he's been really strong. I was happy to see him out there competing."

Weber allowed eight hits and walked three but obtained key outs when required.

The first two Sikeston batters to face Weber -- Nathan Hampton and Cody Rodgers -- both singled, but he established a game-long trend when he struck out the next two batters and escaped the jam with an unassisted groundout to third baseman Cameron Duke.

Jackson then took advantage of a shaky start by Sikeston in the bottom of the first, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring four times on just two hits off Sikeston starter Jordan Griggs, who walked three batters in the inning. One of the hits was a sacrifice bunt by No. 3 hitter Ryan Harvey in which Sikeston left first base unattended and loaded the bases.

Mills then coaxed an RBI walk for the game's first run, and Duke followed with an RBI single. A wild pitch with Maudie at the plate scored the third run, before Jackson's left fielder sent a sacrifice fly to center field later in the at-bat for the first out of the inning.

Weber struck out the side in the second inning before yielding a solo home run to Colten Hampton in the third.

Sikeston scored two runs in the top of the fourth inning to close the gap to 6-3, but Weber avoided further damage when he got Luke Williams to ground out with the bases loaded to end the threat.

He then struck out the side in the fifth inning, then escaped a two-on, two-out spot in the sixth when Williams' shot up the middle deflected off Weber's right knee to second baseman Jon Schumer, who threw to first for the out.

"I got hit with a nice line drive, but I don't know, I guess playing soccer I just got used to them," Weber said about the sharp comebacker.

He showed no ill effects when he returned to the mound in the seventh, retiring the side in order for the first time.

The offense then made sure his work was done, with four hits in the bottom of the frame. A two-out, two-run double by Duke, who went 3 for 5, preceded Maudie's game-winner.

'We've had our ups and downs, but usually as a team, one through nine, we usually hit the ball pretty well, and today the bats were hot," said Maudie, who went 3 for 4 with three RBIs..

Schumer and Ryan Harvey both added two hits apiece.

Griggs lasted four innings and took the loss. He allowed nine hits and nine -- eight earned -- and walked three.