Rally thwarts Jackson Legion

The Ste. Genevieve Post 150 Senior American Legion baseball team came to Jackson's Legion Field Tuesday night with a 1-4 record that did not indicate how talented the squad is.

Jackson Post 158 coach Mark Lewis knew Ste. Genevieve was much better than that subpar mark -- and Post 150 then went out and proved it.

Ste. Genevieve handed Jackson just its second loss of the season, rallying in the late innings for an 8-5 victory.

"We started off 1-4 but we're excited about our team," Ste. Genevieve coach Junie Basler said. "Both high schools [that Post 150 draws from, Ste. Genevieve and Valle Catholic, which each won a district title] had good seasons. We've got a great group of kids."

Jackson fell to 13-2 largely because of a poor top of the seventh inning that featured Ste. Genevieve scoring all four of its run on three walks and a hit batter.

But Lewis believes facing teams the likes of Ste. Genevieve will only serve to make Post 158 stronger.

"They're a good team. It's good for us to play teams like this," Lewis said.

Jackson third baseman Cody Harris, who led Jackson's 14-hit attack by going 4 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs, agreed.

"I'd rather play a good team and get some competition than just blowing teams out," Harris said. "I feel like we're getting closer to midseason form but we still have some ins and outs to fix."

Jackson went ahead quickly with two runs in the bottom of the first inning -- Harris got the third of Post 158's three straight hits with two outs, a two-RBI double -- and carried a 4-2 lead into the seventh.

That's when things fell apart for Post 158.

Ben McCormick, Jackson's second of four pitchers on the night, struck out two in a hitless sixth inning before running into control problems.

Ste. Genevieve had only two hits -- one was an infield single -- during its four-run seventh that put Post 150 ahead for good.

McCormick was hurt by three walks and a hit batter in the frame.

With the bases loaded and one out, a walk forced in a run to make it 4-3.

McCormick threatened to escape the jam with the lead as he recorded a strikeout for the second out.

But two consecutive walks forced in the tying and go-ahead runs, then reliever Collin Herzog hit a batter to force in the fourth run of the inning.

"We've got to make some pitches there, not just with Ben but with all our pitchers," Lewis said.

Ste. Genevieve tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth inning against Chase Simmons -- on three hits and an error as one of the runs was unearned -- to go ahead 8-4.

Jackson got a run back in its half of the eighth on Ryan O'Rear's RBI single. Post 158 still had runners on first and third with one out when a scorching line drive was caught and turned into a double play.

After Simmons worked a scorless top of the ninth, Post 158 threatened in the bottom of the ninth with two runners on before the rally ended.

"Jackson is an excellent team and Mark does a very good job with them," Basler said.

The heart of Jackson's batting order produced 10 of the teams' 14 hits, led by Harris at the No. 5 spot.

"I've been seeing the ball real well," Harris said after his 4 for 4 performance.

Cleanup batter Simmons went 3 for 4 while No. 3 hitter Cody Heisserer went 3 for 5.

O'Rear delivered two RBIs.

Joe Elfrink turned in a solid start for Jackson. He allowed two runs, one earned, and five hits over five innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit two batters.

"Joe did a good job," Lewis said. "He was going deep in counts but overall it was a good outing."

McCormick was tagged with the loss.

Nick Vaeth allowed 13 hits and five runs in 7 1/3 innings to notch the win for Ste. Genevieve. He struck out three and walked just one.

Bryn Huck earned a save with a 1 2/3 one-hit innings. He struck out two and walked one.

"We got good pitching and good defense," said Basler, whose squad committed just one error and turned in several strong defensive plays. "We still didn't get that big hit like we're looking for but we hit the ball better than we had been and we kept grinding it out."

Jackson also made some solid defensive plays but was hurt by three errors.

"I didn't think we played a clean game," Lewis said.

Tuesday's contest marked the start of a busy week for Jackson, which hosts House Springs at 7 p.m. today. Post 158 also has two games Friday, a game Saturday and two games Sunday.