Jackson Senior Legion rallies back, defeats Tropics 18u with late surge

Rallying back from a three-run deficit, Jackson Legion Post 158 AAA defeated the Southeast Tropics’ 18u squad to notch one of the club’s top wins of the year while closing out the American Legion regular season.

After a four-run output from the Tropics through three frames, manager Mark Lewis handed the ball to Kaden Kendle to begin the fourth inning. From there, Kendle allowed just two runs through six innings pitched while batting in four himself – two on a seventh-inning home run and another pair on a ninth-inning double – en route to a 10-6 win at Kelly High School.

“It was a good win, I thought we played well,” Lewis said. “They've got a good ballclub, but we had some good at-bats. Kaden had a couple – hit a home run, came in and really pitched well. I thought he did a great job.

“Jacob Saffle started the game. He was better than what he was getting. I felt like he had some strikes that we didn't get, and that happens. Kaden did a great job coming in and kind of shutting them down and keeping them off-balance.”

Jackson began to pick up some momentum in the top of the fourth, bringing in two runs to cut the deficit to one before taking the lead in the fifth inning. A three-run ninth sealed the deal for the squad, picking up a premier win against a Tropics squad that finished runner-up at the 2022 Babe Ruth World Series.

Garrison Brown of Jackson led the team in hits, garnering three while batting in two runners. Kendle’s home run in the seventh propelled him to a strong offensive night, finishing with two hits and four runs batted in to lead the team in the latter category. Woodland’s Seth Abernathy homered in the ninth inning, finishing with two runs batted in.

With a tremendous win to close out the regular season, the Jackson Legion Post 158 AAA club looks forward to Monday, July 9 as it travels to Sikeston to compete against the Sikeston Silver Sox Legion Post 114 AAA club.

Beginning on Monday and running through Wednesday, the two teams compete in a best-of-three series as the sole two teams in their American Legion district for the 2023 campaign. With a win, either team would advance to a Missouri American Legion zone tournament, this year hosted by Festus Post 253 in Ste. Genevieve.

“What I see is a mindset: the way they show up and the way they compete,” Lewis said. “That's the biggest thing. When they show up and compete, they're a pretty good ballclub. Whenever they show up and we’re just taking it easy, you know, we're very beatable.

“Tonight, we came in with a good mentality and didn't let some calls that didn't go our way early affect us. We got down, but then just kept coming back, climbing back into the game and we were able to win. We're off tomorrow, and then we'll work this weekend and try and get things ready to go.”