The two top seeds in the District 13 American Legion baseball tournament both won Tuesday night at Yanks' Field in Ste. Genevieve.
In the first quarterfinal game, Ste. Gen Post 150 (No. 1 seed) scored 10 runs between the fifth and sixth innings and overcame De Soto SMCI (No. 5) 15-5 in a seven-inning game shortened by the mercy rule. SMCI reached the quarterfinal after beating Bonne Terre 5-4 in 10 innings on Monday.
In the seventh inning of De Soto’s game against Ste. Gen, SMCI manager Sean Wiley was hit in the head by a foul ball by SMCI hitter Nick Carter as Wiley stood in the third-base coaching box. The impact of the ball knocked Wiley to the ground and he walked off the field to the dugout until the game ended a few minutes later. Wiley had an ice bag applied to a large knot near his eye and his family said he was going immediately to see a doctor.
De Soto plays Perryville (No. 6) Wednesday night at 5 p.m. Post 150 will play Festus (No. 2) Thursday at 5 p.m. in the semifinals of the double-elimination tournament. Two teams will qualify for the Zone 4 tournament from District 13. Ste Gen has already qualified for zone because it was the district champion during the regular season.
Nick Schmidt started on the mound for De Soto and scored the game’s first run in the first inning after being walked by Post 150 starting pitcher Chris Loida. Schmidt scored on Brett Gibbs’ RBI single and Carter also scored in the first as SMCI led 2-0.
After a 1-2-3 first inning for Schmidt, Ste. Gen. flexed its muscles by scoring five runs in the next two frames to take a 5-3 lead. Schmidt walked and scored in the third for De Soto.
In the fourth, De Soto tied the game 5-5 when Nick Warren was hit by a pitch and scored and Ryan McLaughlin singled and scored.
Schmidt didn’t make it out of the fourth as Post 150 scored six runs to take command. Dylan Blyzes and Cole Valle pitched in relief for De Soto.
Festus chips away at Rock
For eight innings, Andrew Douglas and Connor Gilles were locked in one of the best pitching duels in District 13 this summer.
When the two excellent hurlers weren’t striking batters out, they were inducing routine plays off of the synthetic surface at Yanks' Field and their defenses were standing up to the pressure of the District 13 tournament game in Tuesday’s nightcap.
Both Douglas for Festus and Gilles for Rock Memorial (No. 3) made it to the eighth inning in the third intense, tight ball game these rivals have played this summer. Douglas got a little more offense and Post 253 beat Post 283 6-2.
Douglas finished with nine strikeouts and the Festus defense ended the first two innings with double plays, including a strike them out, throw them out masterpiece in the second inning. Gilles nibbled at the corner of the plate all night and had six strikeouts and he was also aided by a pair of double plays.
Festus center fielder Blain Prater and Rock third baseman Dave Lawson traded solo home runs in almost the same spot over the left center field fence as the game was tied 1-1 through three innings. Prater relieved Douglas and after walking a batter, retired the next four to end the game.
Rock plays Bonne Terre (No. 4) in the losers bracket Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Yanks Field.