Steeleville falls short of state
<p class="p1">A win away from earning a berth in the American Junior Legion state tournament, the journey came to an end for Steeleville Post 480 on July 24.
<p class="p1">After a loss to Alton last Saturday, Post 480 was eliminated from the American Junior Legion 5th Division tournament the next day in a 8-4 loss to Valmeyer.
<p class="p1">"I think depth really was the issue when you get in a tournament like that," said Steeleville coach Jacob Wente. "(Against Valmeyer), a third of our starting lineup wasn't there due to injuries and vacations, but that isn't an excuse."
<p class="p1">Alton, a Mississippi River community of more than 27,000 people 15 miles north of St. Louis, sent Steeleville to the loser's bracket with a 5-2 win on Saturday.
<p class="p1">"We were one win away from the state tournament because they take the top three teams," Wente said. "For the size of our community and what we draw from, to go down there and compete the way we did, I'm nothing but proud of the kids."
<p class="p1">Against Valmeyer, Steeleville fell behind 5-0 after two innings before breaking through in the fourth.
<p class="p1">Post 480 scored two runs on a RBI groundout by Hunter Fedderke and an error. But Valmeyer also added a run in the inning, taking a 6-2 advantage into the fifth.
<p class="p1">Steeleville scored a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings to complete its scoring, while Valmeyer added runs in the sixth and seventh to account for the final score.
<p class="p1">R.J. Smith (2-4, 2B), Bradley Mevert (2-3, 2B) and Fedderke (2-3) all had multiple hits for Steeleville in the loss.
<p class="p1">Owen Gross pitched the first two innings for Post 480, allowing five runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
<p class="p1">Dusty Sutton relieved Gross with one out in the third and pitched the final 4 <span class="s1">⅓</span> innings, allowing one run on six hits.
<p class="p1">"Coach (John) Sutton is the high school coach and he helps me with the Legion," Wente said. "We were talking about what a positive experience it was for the kids to play in these types of environments.
<p class="p1">"The more they can do that, the more it helps the baseball program in Steeleville as a whole."
<p class="p1">Steeleville finished runner-up to Metropolis in the 25th District tournament, falling to Post 306, 5-2, on July 18. Post 480 had already punched its ticket to the 5th Division tournament a day earlier by beating Pinckneyville-Du Quoin 17U.
<p class="p1">Wente said this was Steeleville's first appearance in the 5th Division tournament - at the Junior Legion level - in at least 10 years.
<p class="p1">"I think we had a lot of high-character kids and you mix high-character kids with talent, special things can happen," Wente said.
<p class="p1">Alton 5, Steeleville 2
<p class="p1">METROPOLIS -- Alton scored all of its runs in the fourth and fifth innings, sending Steeleville to the loser's bracket with a win on July 23.
<p class="p1">Post 126 scored four runs in the fourth while sending all nine batters to the plate, and Alton tacked on its other run in the fifth.
<p class="p1">Both of Steeleville's runs came in the sixth. Mel Mulholland walked to open the inning and later scored on a wild pitch.
<p class="p1">Gavin Conway accounted for Post 480's other run, as his RBI single scored Owen Gross. Gross went 3-for-3 for Steeleville with a double and two singles.
<p class="p1">As a team, Steeleville batters struck out 14 times in the loss.
<p class="p1">Steeleville 7, Olney 2
<p class="p2"><span class="s2">METROPOLIS -- </span>Steeleville Post 480 advanced in the American Junior Legion 5th Division tournament in Metropolis with a 7-2, first-round win over Olney Post 30 on July 22.
<p class="p2">Steeleville led 3-2 entering the top of the seventh before scoring four runs on four hits and an error to break the game open.
<p class="p2">Post 480 scored its runs on nine hits and took advantage of four Olney errors in moving on to the next round. Owen Gross got the win in relief for Steeleville, allowing one run on three hits with a strikeout in 1 <span class="s1">⅔</span> innings of work.