Senior American Legion: Marion Rocks Post #2504
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Following three days of much-needed rest, Marion's American Legion Post 147 baseball team began the final week of the regular season with a bang Monday evening.
Marion collected 18 hits, including home runs by Kyle Hudson, Kenton Parmley and Kaleb Warren, and pounded Pinckneyville Post 2504 into submission with a 21-2 mercy-rule victory in five innings during their 25th District contest on Rigdon Field at the Perry County Fairgrounds.
In three games against one another this summer, Marion has outscored Pinckneyville by a staggering 38-4 margin.
"Pinckneyville is a young team, but they can be dangerous," Marion head coach Greg Haub said.
"We just came out and had better patience and pitch selection with our at-bats. That's something we haven't been doing lately, and one of the reasons we haven't been hitting the ball that well."
Nick Andros enjoyed his second straight successful start on the mound for Post 147 as the lefthander fired a four-hitter with five strikeouts compared to just two walks.
He also helped his own cause with two hits and four RBI.
Andros knocked home Marion's first runs of the game in the first inning.
After Dillon Turnage reached on an error and Kenton Parmley ripped a double down the left-field line, Andros dropped a two-run single into center field for a quick lead.
"Nick threw a real nice game and got plenty of run support," Haub said. "With the way he's throwing right now, he has really picked up our pitching staff."
Marion tallied six more runs in the second as Warren ripped an RBI single, Parmley added a two-run single and Andros had a RBI sacrifice flyout before Hudson belted a two-run homer to right-center field for an 8-0 advantage.
The offense continued to produce in the third when Parmley and Andros both delivered RBI singles while an errant throw from the catcher with runners on the corners led to another run and an 11-0 lead.
Two more runs were plated in the fourth as Warren drew a bases loaded walk followed by Parmley's RBI sacrifice flyout for a 13-run cushion.
After Andros surrendered his first hits and runs in the bottom of the fourth, Post 147 blew open the game even more with an eight-run outburst in the fifth highlighted by Warren's grand slam to center field and Parmley's moonshot well over the left-field fence. Casey Rautenstrauch and Andrew Rowe each provided RBI singles to round out the scoring.
Parmley finished 4-for-4 with six RBI, and Hudson also collected four hits in five at-bats while Rautenstrauch was 3-for-3 with one RBI.
Warren chipped in two hits and six RBI, and Jeff Gardiner added two hits.
Pinckneyville's safeties came from the bats of Michael Rakers (RBI), Jeff Thorton, Landon Chandler (double, RBI) and Bryant Shute.
Thorton, Noah Hepp and C.J. Opp handled the pitching chores.
Marion Post #147 21, Pinckneyville Post #2504 2
Post 147 263 28 - 21 18 1
Post 2504 000 20 - 2 4 3
Andros and Hudson. Opp, Hepp (3), Thorton (5) and Barczewski. WP - Andros (2-0). LP - Opp. Top Hittes - Marion: Warren 2-4 (GS, 6RBI), Parmley 4-4 (2B, HR, 6RBI), Andros 2-4 (4RBI), Hudson 4-5 (HR, 2RBI), Gardiner 2-5, Rautenstrauch 3-3 (RBI), Rowe 1-3 (RBI). Pinckneyville: Rakers 1-2 (2B), Thorton 1-2 (RBI), Chandler 1-2 (2B, RBI), Shute 1-3.