Festus manager Zac Bone likes his players to be aggressive when they get on base.
Post 253 stole four bases and scored five runs in the second inning against Charleston (Navy) U-19 before cruising to an 11-1 win in five innings Friday afternoon at West City Park in the first game of the Ron Bone Tournament.
“We ran the bases well and were aggressive,” Bone said. “We put ourselves in good position after day one. We’ve got some athletic kids that can run. Our style is frustrating to play against.”
Austin Bearden took the mound for Festus and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning without allowing a run. Bearden pitched all five innings and a couple of defensive gems helped his cause.
In the Charleston fourth, Festus center fielder Brennan Pryor kept a run from scoring when he gunned down a Flying Squirrel runner at home plate for the third out of the inning. Charleston had a runner on first with one out in the fifth when Post 253 ended the inning with a 6-4-3 double play.
“Austin was really good,” Bone said. “He got himself out of a couple jams and filled (the strike zone) up like we thought he would. When he pitches like that it gives us a great chance to win.”
Festus scored runs in each of the five innings off of Flying Squirrels starting pitcher Dawson Mayo. Matt Rosen (walk) and Collin Mann (single) scored in the first inning for Post 253. Rosen scored on an error and Mann scored on an RBI single by Sean McDowell.
Alex Riddle’s RBI double in the second pushed the Flying Squirrel’s lone run across the plate against Bearden.
In the Festus second, Iann Wisely led off with a single and scored on a triple by Gunnison Heine to give Post 253 a 3-1 lead. That lead kept growing in the second when Rosen, Mann and Cameron Beck scored. Beck and Zac Meyer had RBI singles in the inning.
Heine walked and scored on Jaden Courtois’ triple in the third. In the Post 253 fourth, Beck led off with a double and McDowell followed with a two-run home run to left field that gave Festus a 10-1 lead.
Heine led off the fifth with a single and Mann ended the game via the mercy rule with an RBI single.
“I thought we swung the bat well up and down the lineup,” Bone said. “Jaden Courtois, Cameron Beck, Collin Mann, all had nice days at the plate, and Sean McDowell put a charge in one. Gunnison Heine had a really nice day. He had good at-bats, played a good right field and he’s played well every time we’ve put him on the field.”
For continued coverage of the Ron Bone Tournament, read Thursday’s Leader.