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Steeleville earns berth in 5th Division tournament

Posted July 18, 2016 11:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

STEELEVILLE -- So close for Steeleville Post 480.

Metropolis broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Post 1961 won its second American Junior Legion 25th District tournament title in three years with a 5-2 win on Monday.

The contest was delayed for 25 minutes in the bottom of the fifth when the hot, muggy conditions tripped a circuit breaker, causing two of the right field light poles to go dark.

An inning later, Metropolis broke the tie thanks to some small ball and a two-run throwing error.

"We keep focusing on our pitching," said Metropolis coach Bobby Simpson. "We always, all year long, have leaned on pitching and it's the old cliche and we preach it - pitching and defense."

Hunter Fedderke got the start for Steeleville and after Nate Kerley reached on a one-out bunt single in the sixth, Post 480 coach Jacob Wente went to reliever Owen Gross to face the top of Metropolis's order.

"That was the third time we would have gone through their order," Wente said. "That was the top of their order.

"Hunter gutted it out, he went through the light delay and how many times does that happen?" Wente said. "I thought about going to Owen after the delay, but Hunter wanted the ball.

"He's a guy we've counted on all year and I trust him."

Gross hit the first batter he faced, Jacob Breeden, and Jordan Parmer laid down a bunt along the third base line that Gross fielded.

Throwing across his body, Gross attempted to gun down Parmer at first base, but his throw went wild and both runs scored. Metropolis later added its third run of the inning on a passed ball.

"He made an aggressive mistake," Wente said of Gross. "He should have put the ball in his back pocket and ate it, but he made a throw and that happens.

"I'd rather see him make a mistake being aggressive and that play there didn't lose us the game. People from the outside may say so, but at the end of the day, that one play didn't lose us the game."

Metropolis gave the ball to reliever Christian Pearl in the seventh and Pearl struck out the side to end the game.

"It's awesome, we're a family," Simpson said of winning the tournament. "I coach the senior (legion) team too and the seniors pretty much coach themselves.

"And these guys give me a chance to coach every day and teach them baseball."

Entering the contest, both teams had already gotten a spot in the 5th Division tournament in Metropolis and were playing for seeding.

Post 1961 earned an automatic berth by being the host, and the 25th District will also send Pinckneyville-Du Quoin 17U, Goreville and Sons of the American Legion to Massac County.

Steeleville will play Olney at 2:30 p.m. Friday to open the 10-team, double-elimination 5th Division tournament.

"That's probably the best-coached team we've seen all year," Wente said of Metropolis. "They're very fundamental, they don't run themselves into a lot of outs and did a really nice job (Monday).

"Hopefully, we'll get a chance to see them again (this) weekend."

Steeleville was held to four hits in the game and none after the fourth inning. Three of Post 480's hits came in the top of the third, which resulted in Steeleville tying the score at 2.

After the contest, Metropolis assistant coach Ricky Pearl and Fedderke were named co-MVPs of the tournament after being selected by their respective coaches.

Steeleville 9, PVL-DQ 17U 0

STEELEVILLE -- Gavin Conway went 3-for-3 with an RBI, and Steeleville Post 480 earned a berth in the American Junior Legion 5th Division tournament with a win over Pinckneyville-Du Quoin on July 17.

Steeleville banged out 10 hits in the five-inning victory, with Mel Mulholland (2-3) and Dusty Sutton (2-4) also contributing multiple hits.

Post 480 scored four runs in the first and added six runs in the second. Entering Monday's finale against Metropolis, Steeleville had outscored its opposition 25-4 in three games.

Carbondale 8, Chester 5

STEELEVILLE -- Chester's American Junior Legion season came to an end on July 16 with a loss to Carbondale in the loser's bracket.

Clay Herrell got the start for Post 487, allowing eight runs on eight hits in six innings pitched with eight strikeouts. Landon Knott went 2-for-4 for Chester, while Owen Korando finished 1-for-2.

Steeleville 6, SAL 4

STEELEVILLE -- A six-run cushion proved to be enough to send top-seeded Steeleville into the 25th District tournament semifinals on July 16 with a win over the Sons of the American Legion.

Steeleville scored its runs in the second, third and fourth innings, while SAL made things interesting with a four-run fifth.

No. 5 seed Post 1961 also put runners on in the sixth and seventh, but Steeleville's defense shut the door on any further comeback.

"Credit R.J.," Steeleville coach Jacob Wente said of starter R.J. Smith. "He kept throwing strikes and our defense made the plays that they needed to make.

"That's a good-hitting club over there and they showed it."

Steeleville's middle infield was particularly effective, turning two double plays - including a 4-6-3 putout in the seventh after SAL's Peyton Overturf reached on an error to start the inning.

Steeleville second baseman Jacob Sutton made up for a few miscues with some big plays at key times, including catching two line drives on the first two pitches of the game.

"It's not too often you see three pitches and three outs in the first inning," Wente said.

Smith gave up one hit through four innings until running into trouble in the fifth. SAL scored four runs on three hits and two errors, ultimately chasing Smith from the mound in favor of Owen Gross.

Gross pitched the final 2 ⅓ innings to earn the save.

"A foot here, a foot there, that can be the difference in the game," Wente said. "Thankfully, on our end, the ball bounced our way."

Chester 14, PVL-DQ (15U 2)

STEELEVILLE -- Clay Herrell went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored, and Joey Stahlheber went 3-for-3 with two runs scored as Chester eliminated Pincknevyille-Du Quoin's 15U squad.

Curt Meyer got the win on the mound for Post 487, while also going 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs.

Tristin Hobeck (2-2, 2RS 2BI), Nick Meyer (2-4 RS), Brady Kelkhoff (2-4, 1RS, 2BI) and Daltyn Korando (2-2, 2RS) also had multiple hits for Chester.

SAL 3, Chester 2

CHESTER -- A three-run third inning was enough to send the Sons of the American Legion to the quarterfinals of the 25th District tournament on July 14.

Chester Post 487 pitcher Daltyn Korando allowed five walks in the first three innings, including three in the third.

Fourth-seeded Chester scored one run in the first on a RBI single by Brady Kelkhoff and scratched another run across in the fifth.

Post 487 had the tying run on first base with two outs in the seventh, but Kelkhoff flew out to centerfield to end the game.

"We had runners on base throughout the game and had the better part of our lineup with guys on base," said Chester coach Trevor Kelkhoff. "But it always seemed like it was with two outs before we got a guy on second.

"One two-out hit away from coming out on top I guess you could say."

Steeleville 9, PVL-DQ 15U 0

STEELEVILLE -- Eli Wittenborn went 1-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, leading Steeleville to a win over Pinckneyville-Du Quoin's 15U squad on July 14.

Jacob Sutton went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Hunter Fedderke added a double and an RBI for Post 480, which broke open a 2-0 game with a four-run fifth.

Steeleville added three runs in the sixth for the final score.

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