Jackson Senior Legion's season ends in zone tournament

It's often said the final three outs in a baseball game are the hardest to obtain.

The Jackson Post 158 Senior American Legion baseball team reinforced the adage after losing a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday in the Zone 4 tournament in Ballwin, Missouri.

Facing host Ballwin in an elimination game, Jackson was unable to record an out in the bottom of the ninth inning as Ballwin pushed across three runs for a 5-4 victory that ended Post 158's season.

Ballwin loaded the bases with no outs on a Jackson fielding error squeezed between a pair of walks. A single pulled Ballwin within a run, before a two-run single ended the contest and advanced it to the title game.

"They won it more than we lost it, in my opinion," Post 158 coach Mark Lewis said.

Ballwin struck for the game's first run in the first inning, but Jackson led most of the game after plating a pair of runs in the top of the second.

After a pair of walks, Gavin Turner pulled Post 158 even with an RBI single. Wyatt Eldridge, who had reached on a walk, later stole home for a 2-1 lead.

Jackson increased its lead to 3-1 in the fourth when Ben Maudie reached on a walk, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.

Ballwin countered with a single run in the fifth, but Jackson regained its two-run advantage in the top of the ninth on an RBI single by Jay Newell.

Newell pitched the first six innings, allowing five hits and two runs. He struck out one and walked two.

Colten Weber followed with two hitless innings, striking out three, before running into trouble in the ninth.

"Win or lose, it was a great ballgame," Lewis said. "Somebody had to lose, and we were unfortunate."

Landon Mills and Turner each had two hits for Jackson, which had five hits overall and committed just one error on defense.

Ballwin finished with seven hits and did not commit an error.

"To me, the way I look at it, you get into a zone tournament or a state tournament, those things are just tight," Lewis said. "You're obviously playing against good ballclubs, and the margin for error is very small."

Jackson, which won state and regional titles in 2014, won its fourth straight District 14 Tournament title to reach the zone tournament. Post 158 closed its season at 28-17 after back-to-back losses to Manchester and Ballwin.

Jackson committed four errors in its 9-7 loss Friday to Manchester, a game which Post 158 led early on and later failed to cash in on Manchester defensive miscues.

"Win or lose in that tournament, I was proud of my kids," Lewis said. "The beginning of the year was a struggle. We struggled for a while, and we got our minds right and started playing well down the stretch. I was proud of them. It was a tough game to lose against Manchester, and to come back through and win three games in a row was going to be tough for any ballclub. That's the way I look at it. We had our opportunityes in that 9-7 ballgame but just couldn't get it done."

Manchester went on to win the tournament, defeating Ballwin in the title game.

Jackson 020 100 001 -- 4 5 1

Ballwin 100 010 003 -- 5 7 0

WP -- Boone. LP -- Colten Weber. 2B -- Landon Mills (J). 3B -- Ruthman (B). Multiple hits -- Jackson: Mills 2-3, Gavin Turner 2-4; Ballwin: Ruthman 2-4, Boone 2-3.