Top half of lineup sparks Jackson Sr. Legion win

SENATH, Mo. -- The first five hitters in the Jackson Senior American Legion Post 158 lineup took care of business Saturday afternoon with a District 14 tournament championship on the line.

Trent Wills, Steven Porzelt, Laban Petzoldt, Chase Simmons and Cody Harris combined to tally nine RBIs as Jackson collected its second straight district championship with a 9-4 win against host Dunklin County Post 303. "That's why they are batting one through five I guess," Jackson coach Mark Lewis said of the production from the top of the lineup. "They did a good job battling throughout the counts. All the hitters I felt did a pretty good job throughout the tournament. I didn't feel like it was just one guy. It was important for the top of the lineup to deliver today and they did a good job."

Jackson's Kelby Brown relieved starting pitcher Collin Herzog with two outs in the bottom of the third inning. Brown pitched the remainder of the game without allowing a run and was credited with the win.

"He's kind of been a middle guy for us," Lewis said of Brown, who limited the Dunklin County offense to three hits in 6 1/3 innings pitched. "He's started all year, but when we got to tournament play we felt like he would be good out of the bullpen. He works fast and throws a good breaking ball. Once we started getting outs we were going to ride with him until they got to him or he got tired."

Top-seeded Dunklin County, which earned a spot in next week's zone tournament at Jackson with an 11-8 win against Sikeston in an elimination game Saturday, fell behind second-seeded Jackson 3-0 in its second game of the day.

Jackson pushed across two runs in the top of the first inning. Simmons, who finished with a team-high three RBIs, drove home Jackson's first run with a sacrifice fly. Harris followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0.

Wills, who finished 3 for 5, added an RBI single in the top of the second.

Dunklin County scored two runs in the bottom of the second and two more in the third to take a 4-3 lead.

Bryce Wallace drew a bases-loaded walk to account for Dunklin County's first run in the second inning. Tyson Campbell pushed across a second run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Austin Wagner and Kyle Moore each had an RBI double in the bottom of the third inning.

Simmons put Jackson back on top 5-4 when he connected for a two-RBI double in the top of the fourth inning.

Jackson scored its final four runs off of Dunklin County starting pitcher Hunter Cook in the top of the sixth inning.

Porzelt and Petzoldt had back-to-back RBI doubles in the sixth. Wills had an RBI single and Harris drove home a run with a sacrifice fly.

"I commend Dunklin County," Lewis said. "They had to play earlier in the day and they were right there with a 4-3 lead against us. They gave us all we wanted early in the game and then we got some hits later on that kind of gave us a cushion, which allowed our pitchers and hitters to relax."

Cook pitched the first six innings for Dunklin County.

Brady Bibbs did not allow a hit in three innings of relief work for Dunklin County.

"Brady held them right there," Dunklin County coach Jamie Johnson said. "He gave us some innings in relief. We were getting a little bit low with some guys after all the baseball we've played."

Jackson advanced to Saturday's title game by rolling past Dunklin County 9-1 in Friday's winners bracket final.

Steven Eddy pitched an eight-hitter. He struck out four.

Simmons and Petzoldt both had three hits.

Also Friday, Cape Girardeau Ford and Sons Post 63 saw its season end at 19-24 with a 7-6 elimination-game loss to Sikeston (16-15).

Jackson, which went 3-0 in the tournament, improved to 38-7 while Dunklin County fell to 24-12.

The two teams will begin play in the five-team Zone 4 tournament at Whitey Herzog Stadium in Jackson Thursday, with the first game set for 11 a.m.

"It was a good ballgame," Johnson said. "We played 18 innings today in the heat and we are in the zone tournament so congratulations to Jackson. They are the district champion, but we both get to go to the zone tournament."