Jr. Legion tournament begins today

The freshmen had their chance earlier this week. Beginning today, it's the junior's shot.

The Junior American Legion District 14 Tournament begins today at the Central High School baseball field, with a berth in next week's Zone 4 tournament in Festus, Mo., at stake.

Jackson Post 158 (32-4) comes in as the No. 1 seed and will play No. 4 Scott County Post 369 (11-18) today at 11 a.m. The day's second game will feature No. 2 Sikeston Post 114 against No. 3 Cape Post 63 (17-22).

Jackson's gaudy record is no fluke. Post 158 has put together dominant starting pitching and strong defensive play with a hitting attack that regularly scores in double digits.

"We're fairly deep, and we have a bunch of strong arms in the outfield," said Jackson coach Gerald Adams. "I've got about six kids in the outfield that can all gun it. And we've gotten some strong infield play. All those kids are interchangeable. And I've got two good catchers.

"It's a total thing. When they start hitting together, it's contagious."

Jackson's offense features leadoff hitter Ryan Harvey hitting at a .400 clip with 30 stolen bases in 30 attempts. Catcher Wyatt Eldridge is hitting over .380, and Tyler Howard, used mostly as a designated hitter, bats over .300

Leading the pitching staff is Zach Elfrink (5-1), Tyler Slinkard (6-0) and Jonathan Litchfield (5-0). Michael Houchin is 4-1 and settled is as Jackson's closer.

"The starting pitchers have been working the count, throwing strikes and keeping their walks down," Adams said. "It's been a total team effort."

Cape Plaza Tire Post 63's record is a bit deceiving as coach Allen Pearman's squad has played a number of senior Legion and senior Babe Ruth teams this season. Pearman hopes playing older squads has prepared his team for the district tournament.

"We can compete with the teams in this district," Pearman said. "We beat Sikeston once ... and we've competed with Jackson. It's just a matter of if we can hit the baseball and execute plays, then we'll be OK.

"I like the potential of this team, we just have to meet that potential."

Hayden Lynn (3-6, 2.69 ERA) and Tyler Essner (0-4, 5.77) have pitched the bulk of their games against older competition. Gabe Haas (4-2, 3.45) and Nick Jones (3-1, 5.58) are also in the pitching mix for Post 63. Closer Noah Dillingham (3.11) has notched five saves.

Essner leads off for Post 63 and is hitting .305 with 29 stolen bases and 28 runs scored. Jones (.286) leads the team with 28 hits and 26 RBIs, while Connor McGarr (.323) has 16 RBIs and Lynn checks in at an even .300.

"We haven't been very consistent," Pearman said. "That's been our main issue. We've made some mistakes, hopefully we've learned from them."

Scott County Post 369 may not own a gaudy record, but coach Shelby Kight's squad has been rounding into form late in the season.

"We've had our ups and downs, but as of late we've started to come together," Kight said. "Our bats are starting to come alive, but it's our pitching that's beginning to carry us. When we pitch well we usually have some success."

Stephen Smith, Lane Henson, Tyler Rogers and Thomas Trankler have been Scott County's top pitchers all season, with Henson and Trankler leading the offense.

"We're well-rested and ready to go for the tournament," Kight said.

Following today's first two games, the losing teams will meet in a 4 p.m. elimination game.

Winners from the first two games will meet Friday at 1:30 p.m., with the loser of that game meeting the winner of Thursday's elimination game.

The championship game is set for Saturday at 1:30 p.m., unless the loser of that game has just one loss. In that case, the same two teams will meet at 4 p.m. to determinte the district champion.

All games will be played at Central High School's baseball field.