But in the seventh, as a replacement for injured third baseman Lenny Tocco, West made the play of the game – and the season.
With Eureka trailing host Washington Post 218 3-2 at sun-baked Ronsick Field, West came to bat with the bases loaded after Patrick Dahm reached on a fielder’s choice, Carter Luft walked and Dakota Joggerst singled. West smashed a long drive over the head of the right fielder for a bases-clearing triple and a 5-3 lead for Post 177.
Dahm relieved Joggerst on the mound for the bottom of the fifth and gave up a leadoff single to Tanner McPherson before retiring the next three in order to nail down the victory and with it, the team’s first state title. Dahm earned the win with 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out two.
“I never expected to go in,” West said. “(Eureka head coach Connor Quick) called my name. I didn’t expect a triple, but I told myself I can’t be the game-losing out.”
A loss for Eureka would have forced a winner-take-all third game between the teams in the double-elimination tournament, with Post 177 having beaten Washington 3-1 earlier.
Eureka ended the season 31-4, including 3-0 in the state tournament, beginning with pitcher Dylan Tate’s one-hit performance in a 1-0 win over Jefferson City Post 5. The AA season ends after state; there isn’t a regional round or World Series as on the AAA level. American Legion baseball canceled all of last year’s postseason tournaments because of COVID-19.
West played for Eureka’s A team this summer and moved up to the AA club for the state tournament as a pinch runner off the bench – making him the unlikeliest of heroes for Post 177.
“We’ve been hitting the whole weekend and nobody gave up today,” West said. “I’m guest-playing and I was just pinch-running all weekend.”
Eureka earned a spot in the state tournament by winning the Zone 4 tournament in Sikeston. Post 177 beat Festus Post 253 twice, including 14-4 in the final.
Quick has coached the AA team since they were freshmen and said he’s moving up with those who will be on the AAA team in 2022. Under first-year head coach Noah Baker, Post 177’s senior club was 17-11 this summer.
Quick called his AA squad “a fun group” to coach.
“It started in zones with the close games and competition,” Quick said. “There’s a reason we’re 31-4, and it’s not just that we’re lucky,” Quick said. “We play the game right. We play it hard. We do it every game in every inning and that’s why we were able to come back after not doing anything (offensively) for the first five innings.”
Joggerst batted .600 (6 for 10) in the three state games and after Tate and Luft’s masterful complete-game pitching performances in the first two rounds, he kept it close in the final until the offense woke up. Joggerst pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing three hits, three earned runs and striking out three. He didn’t walk or hit any batters.
In the second inning of the final, Jacob Weidle doubled and scored on a single by his brother, Ryan Weidel, for a 1-0 Washington lead. Joggerst struck out Weston Meyer to end the inning.
Washington right-hander Morgan Copeland retired Post 177 in order in the third and the hosts extended their lead to 2-0 in the fourth when Weidle singled and scored on McPherson’s two-out base hit.
In the Eureka fifth, David Sheahan-Eagan led off with a single and stole second and third but was stranded there when Luke Fisher struck out.
Meyer led off the fifth with a single, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and after Dahm relieved Joggerst, scored on Anthony Blocker’s two-out single to make it 3-0.
Dahm singled off Copeland to start the sixth. Luft and Joggerst also singled, but Dahm was thrown out at home plate. With one out, Tate doubled, scoring Luft and Joggerst to trim Post 218’s lead to 3-2. Sheahan-Eagan’s base hit moved Tate to third but both runners were stranded on Drew Nichols’ popout to shortstop.
Luft began the game at shortstop but finished it behind the plate at catcher.
“It’s really hard to go from polar-opposite positions. But whatever the team needs is what I’m here to do,” Luft said. “We had a lot of wins and a lot of great games, but this was the toughest competition we played all year, so we had to turn it up when it mattered and we gave it everything we had. Everybody’s on their last leg and have so many injuries.”
Quick said it took a complete team performance to win a title, as West demonstrated.
“We used everybody on our bench. (Tocco) couldn’t swing the bat because he hurt his wrist,” Quick said. “West had two (AA) at-bats all year and came up with the biggest hit. He’s proof of being ready to play when your number is called.
“It was a fun, gritty season and a long summer. We played a lot of games and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”