Post 642 drops tough opener

Miscues in the sixth inning cost the Sedalia Post 642 junior Legion baseball team on Thursday night in its first game of the 2008 Missouri AA State Tournament.

Ste. Genevieve Post 150 used a hit batsman, an error and a walk to set the stage for a three-run rally in the sixth that propelled it to a 5-3 win over Sedalia.

“We talked about that before the game, you know, the team that makes the fewest mistakes is going to win,” said Sedalia coach Jeff Mays. “There was one error in the game and we made it, and it cost us three runs in that inning.”

Post 642 falls into tonight’s 6 p.m. elimination game and will face the winner of this afternoon’s St. Charles-Oak Grove game. The winsends Ste. Genevieve into a semifinal game against Nevada at 3:30 p.m.

Sedalia (33-5) pushed across a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Ste. Genevieve lead to 4-3, but Ste. Genevieve added a run in the seventh and then withstood a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the inning to secure the win.

Dylan Mays, who took the loss for Sedalia, battled Ste. Genevieve starter Nathan Geile pitch-for-pitch all evening. Both pitchers controlled the action until the offenses started rolling in the final two innings.

Sedalia jumped in front in the first courtesy of Jordan Dey’s bat. Dey lined a home run over the left-field fence for a quick 1-0 lead.
After Dey’s home run, neither team could mount any offense. Mays and Geile were in control, mixing fastballs with very effective curveballs.

“He threw a good ballgame,” said coach Mays of Dylan. “He had pretty good command of everything all night. You’ve got to tip your hat to their kid (Geile). He threw a heck of a ballgame for them. He’s a good thrower.”

Ste. Genevieve finally tied the score at one in the fourth when Aaron Basler doubled, was bunted to third and scored on a ground ball by Zach Weiler.

The game remained tied at 1 until the sixth when Ste. Genevieve’s Jason Blum was hit by a pitch. After a popout, Basler grounded back to Mays, but his throw to second sailed into center field, putting runners on first and second.

Michael Greminger followed with a walk to load the bases. Weiler then laid down a squeeze bunt that scored Blum to put Ste. Genevieve in front 2-1.

Derek Koller lined a single to right that scored two runners and Ste. Genevieve had a 4-1 lead.

Sedalia mounted a rally in its half of the sixth, getting two-out RBI singles from Spencer White and Alex Lang to cut the lead to 4-3. Blum’s RBI single in the seventh made it 5-3 before Sedalia mounted one last comeback attempt.

A walk and two hit batsmen loaded the bases with two outs, but Ste. Genevieve reliever Andrew Bader got a popup to third to end the threat and the game.

Sedalia will now have to play its way back through the double-elimination tournament for a chance to win the title.

“They’re a little bit down now,” said Mays. “We can get back in it. We’ve just got to get ready and go tomorrow.”

In earlier games in the tournament, Ste. Genevieve defeated St. Charles Post 312 10-2 and Nevada knocked off Oak Grove Post 379 in eight innings, 6-5.

sports@sedaliademocrat.com