Walk-off win, 2-1 loss cap zone tourney for Jackson Junior Legion

A thrilling win and a heart-breaking loss capped a long, wild day for the Jackson Post 158 Junior American Legion baseball team Saturday.

And while a 12-inning, 14-13 win over Ballwin Post 611 win kept the team alive in the Zone 4 tournament at Legion Field, the 2-1 loss to Eureka Post 177 that followed eliminated the host team from the tournament.

Eureka will face Ste. Genevieve today needing two wins to claim the Zone 4 title and advance to the state tournament.

Of some solace to the Jackson faithful is the fact that, as the host team, Jackson received a bye into the Junior Legion state tournament July 24-26 at Legion Field.

"I thought we had three good ball games against two different, quality teams," said Jackson coach Shelby Kight, whose team finished 1-2 over the weekend. "Our team was tested, and now kind of see what we're made of, see where we stand after this, see what we need to work on."

Following the wild elimination win over Ballwin, Post 158 needed a great pitching effort against Eureka, and they got it from Ben Maudie. The big right-hander scattered seven hits over six innings, allowing just two unearned runs while walking one and striking out two. Both runs Eureka scored -- in the fifth and sixth innings -- were aided by Jackson errors.

"It all starts with us not hitting well," Kight said about the nightcap. "After putting up a good number of runs in the previous game, I didn't think we swung the bats very well. And in a tight ball game like that, errors will kill you. And a good team like Eureka will capitalize on the errors we make. And that's how they scored their two runs."

Post 158 broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth when, with one out, Tyler Slinkard walked and stole second. One out later, Skylar Pease singled to right. Slinkard stopped at third, but when the throw to the plate got past the Eureka catcher, Slinkard was able to scamper home with the game's first run.

Eureka tied it in the bottom of the fifth, scoring without the benefit of a base hit. Matt Spinnenweber was hit by a pitch to open the frame and promptly stole second. Maudie got two quick outs, but Connor McCann's infield grounder got past Post 158's third baseman. Left fielder Jake Edwards' throw to the plate beat the runner, but Spinnenweber was called safe, much to the dismay of the Post 158 fans in attendance.

In the sixth, Andrew Bujmak singled to open the inning, took second on a wild pitch and scored when an infield grounder skipped under shortstop Jay Hutchison's glove.

"We took advantage," Eureka coach Ron Muse said. "We had a bang-bang play at the plate, and we got a call, and I'm glad it went our way, obviously."

Garret Witte took it from there. Eureka's left-handed pitcher stymied Post 158 all game long by hitting the corners and mixing in a nice curve that caught several Jackson batters looking. Witte allowed just one unearned run on six hits over seven innings, walking three and striking out eight.

"This is the first time we let him go seven innings," Muse said. "He was hitting the corners, changing speeds, keeping the guys a little off-stride, and that really helped us out."

Bollinger keeps Jackson alive with walk-off hit

Jackson Junior Legion's Drew Miller crosses the plate with the winning run against Ballwin Post 661 during the 12th inning of their game at the Junior Legion Zone 4 tournament Saturday, July 19, 2014 in Jackson. Jackson won 14-13. (Fred Lynch)

The pitching duel was a far cry from the day's first game, which saw Post 158 squander early leads of 7-0 and 9-1. Jackson sent 11 batters to the plate in a seven-run second innings, highlighted by Hutchinson's two-run double and a towering three-run home run from Ryan Mize. Cameron Duke's two-run double in the bottom of the third pushed Post 158's lead to 9-1.

But Ballwin (21-14) battled back with three runs in the fourth and a four-run fifth inning that chased Post 158 starter Gavon Turner and pulled the visitors to within 9-8.

It stayed that way until the top of the seventh, when Ballwin plated three more runs to take an 11-9 lead. But Post 158 came up with two in the bottom of the frame to knot the score and force extra innings. Consecutive singles by Maudie, Carter Bess and Edwards loaded the bases and prompted a pitching change. Triston Thele greeted reliever Zach Plunkett with a run-scoring single to center, and Garret Reynolds followed with a sacrifice fly to left that scored Bess with the tying run.

"I knew no lead was going to be safe when they have those kinds of sticks on the other side," Kight said. "I wanted to keep tacking on. Unfortunately, we got a little stagnant there at the plate in the later innings. I knew they were going to come back. There wasn't any doubt in my mind."

The fun was just beginning. Neither team scored in the eighth, but Ballwin's Matt Welby and Jim Harter executed a tricky double-steal to take the lead. Welby, at first base, took off for second before Thele, Post 158's third reliever of the game, went into his windup. Thele stepped off the rubber, but his throw to second sailed into center field, and Harter scored easily from third for a 12-11 lead.

Needing a run to tie, Post 158 got just that in the bottom of the inning. Edwards reached on an infield error, stole second and scored on Reynolds' two-out double to left.

Plunkett led off Ballwin's top of the 10th with a walk, stole second and scored on Matt Nichols' single to center. But Edwards' bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the frame knotted the score at 13-13.

Thele pitched a scoreless 12th, and the Post 158 offense went to work. Drew Miller drew a walk and stole second. Maudie's infield single moved Miller to third, and he scored easily when Bollinger's liner soared over the third baseman's glove and set off a raucous celebration.

"I was really nervous because (of) the game going back and forth, back and forth," Bollinger said. "I was just going to put the ball in play, hit it hard and see what happens."

Jackson Junior Legion's Seth Bollinger drives in the winning run against Ballwin Post 661 during the 12th inning of their game at the Junior Legion Zone 4 tournament Saturday, July 19, 2014 in Jackson. Jackson won 14-13. (Fred Lynch)

For Kight, it was a chance to finally put an end to the marathon game, which lasted more than four hours. Three times, beginning with a two-run deficit in the seventh, Post 158 had to score at least one run to keep the game going. Finally, after holding Ballwin scoreless in the top of the 12th, it was time to win it outright.

"I had a lot of confidence in our hitters that they would get the job done," Kight said.

"There wasn't a loser in this game," Ballwin coach Mark Davidson said, praising his team for scoring 13 runs after being down 7-0 after two innings. "There was just a winner."

Lost in the shuffle was the effort of Turner, who pitched the first 4 1/3 innings for Post 158 and, despite allowing 15 hits, allowed just eight runs.

"I think he threw well," Kight said. "I think you have to tip your cap to Ballwin, they hit the ball well. (Turner) was pitching in and out of jams, but he was able to work around a lot of trouble, which was good for him, especially in the beginning."

Thele pitched the final five frames and got the win, allowing just two runs -- one earned -- on four hits, walking three and striking out five.

"I can't say enough about the job Triston Thele did, especially coming in after not warming up at all in the bullpen," Kight said. "He came straight in from the outfield, and to come in and do that kind of job against that quality of a team, I tip my cap to him, absolutely."

Thele said, at that point, he just wanted to "throw strikes."

"Don't show emotion to the umps and just throw strikes," he said. "I figured since we were tying it up (every inning) that we'd be able to go ahead and take the lead and win it, I was extremely confident coming out. I was pumped. We were all pumped."

The competition was a preview of what Post 158 will face in the state tournament.

"We've faced some tough teams in the regular season, but no one to the caliber of Eureka or Ballwin," Kight said. "Seeing these two teams, I think, will help us in the long run at the state tournament."

Ballwin 001 340 301 100 -- 13 23 3

Jackson 072 000 201 101 -- 14 19 3

WP -- Tristan Thele. LP -- Luke Berra. HR -- Jackson -- Ryan Mize (J). 2B -- Garret Reynolds (J), Jay Hutchison (J), Cameron Duke (J). Multiple hits -- Ballwin: Matt Nichols 3-8, Berra 4-7, Jim Harter 4-7, Tom Bolstad 3-6, Matt Welby 3-4, Ben Anthony 2-6, Grant Dolan 2-6; Jackson: Reynolds 2-6, Duke 4-7, Maudie 3-5, Seth Bollinger 2-3, Jake Edwards 2-5. Records -- Ballwin 21-14, Jackson 30-6.

Jackson 000 100 0 1 6 2

Eureka 000 011 X -- 2 7 1

WP -- Garret Witte. LP -- Ben Maudie. 2B -- Maudie (J), Brenden Keller (E). Multiple hits -- Jackson: Garret Reynolds 3-4; Eureka: Zac Husman 2-3, Keller 2-3. Records -- Eureka 28-6, Jackson 30-7.