Jackson Senior Legion captures victory No. 35

The Jackson Post 158 Senior American Legion baseball team was looking for a solid postseason tuneup and its 35th win of the summer.

Mission accomplished on both fronts.

Jackson tuned up for the District 14 tournament with Tuesday night's 9-4 victory over the visiting Blytheville (Ark.) Casons at Herzog Stadium.

"Got to get in a groove before districts, before the playoffs start," Jackson's Laban Petzoldt said.

Post 158, playing its final regular-season game, improved to 35-7.

Jackson Post 158 Senior American Legion shortstop Laban Petzoldt fields a ground ball during the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game against Blytheville (Ark.) at Whitey Herzog Stadium in Jackson. (Adam Vogler)

Jackson will begin its quest for a second straight District 14 tournament title when the four-team event begins Thursday in Senath, Mo.

Second-seeded Jackson plays third-seeded Sikeston at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, followed by top-seeded host Dunklin County against fourth-seeded Cape Girardeau at 7:30 p.m.

"It's going to be tough, but I think we've got a pretty good shot," Jackson's Cody Heisserer said.

Post 158 already has secured a berth in next week's Zone 4 tournament because it is hosting the five-team event, but Heisserer said Jackson doesn't want to back in.

"We want to win districts," he said.

Heisserer helped propel Jackson past mistake-prone Blytheville (17-9) with his fourth home run of the season.

Heisserer's blast leading off the bottom of the sixth inning cleared the left-center field fence at spacious Herzog Stadium and broke a 4-4 tie.

"I actually didn't think it was going out," Heisserer said. "The wind was kind of blowing in and I didn't think I got all of it."

The Casons helped Jackson with seven errors, but Post 158 also banged out 12 hits.

"I liked the way we swung the bats," Jackson coach Mark Lewis said.

Petzoldt led Jackson with three hits, including two doubles. He drove in two runs.

Heisserer had two hits and two RBIs, while Chase Simmons and Kyle James added two hits apiece.

That was more than enough offense to support five Jackson pitchers. Lewis did not use any hurler for more than three innings.

"All our pitchers threw well, we hit, we battled," Heisserer said. "Just getting everybody ready for districts."

Hayden Clark started on the mound and pitched a scoreless inning.

Avery Whiteside worked three scoreless frames, allowing one hit. He struck out three and did not issue a walk.

Joe Elfrink was the only Jackson hurler to suffer damage.

Blytheville scored all four of its runs in the fifth inning off Elfrink, who did not record an out. He allowed just one hit but walked three.

Ryan O'Rear, who received credit for the victory, pitched two innings. He allowed two hits, struck out one and walked none.

Ben McCormick finished with three scoreless innings to earn a save. He allowed one hit, struck out one and walked none.

"We let a lot of guys throw, and a lot of them threw well," Lewis said. "It was a good outing for Ben."

Jackson scored single runs in the first and third innings to lead 2-0 before the Casons went ahead 4-2 with their four-run fifth inning.

Post 158 pulled even with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, then took the lead for good on Heisserer's homer leading off the sixth.

Jackson pulled away down the stretch, scoring twice in both the seventh and eighth innings.

"We took advantage of some of their mistakes," Lewis said.

Post 158 also made its share of mistakes, committing four errors, but overall Lewis was pleased with his squad's final regular-season performance.

"The big thing was to stay healthy, get some at-bats for our main guys, get some other guys in the game and use some arms," Lewis said. "I think it was a good game for us."