Festus Post 253 needed to win twice Saturday night in Ste. Genevieve to clinch second place in the Zone 4 tournament and advance to the American Legion senior baseball state finals in Sedalia this week.
And Festus won big, knocking off Ballwin Post 611 and Jackson Post 158 by almost identical 14-6 and 14-5 scores to punch its state ticket for the second time in three years. Festus last won a state title in 2011.
Post 253 jumped on District 10 champion Ballwin 5-0 in the first inning at Yanks Field, where large crowds attended each night of the tournament, packing the stands and the hillside flanking the left field line.
Third baseman Eddie Martin made two hit-saving stops and was 4-for-4 at the plate, with two runs scored, a stolen base and RBI. He finished the game playing second base and played second against Jackson.
It’s Martin’s last summer playing for Post 253 and he’s making it count.
“I came in looking for the fastball early and jumped on them. I had to get us going,” Martin said after the game against Ballwin.
“We really want to win and get to state. A lot of people, this will be their last time (playing for Festus).”
Jacob Bridges greeted Post 611 starting pitcher Adam Hellmann with a double to start the game. Jordan Duncan and Levi Ebersoldt followed Bridges with singles. Jake Leitner, Charlie Pratt, Martin and Connor Wilkinson strung together RBI hits before Hellmann was lifted for Brendan Waller. Festus scored two more runs in the fourth when Christian Hancock singled and scored and Bridges walked and scored. Ebersoldt had an RBI double in the inning.
Jacob Melton started on the mound for Festus and shut out Post 611 for three innings. David Eklund singled off of Melton to lead off the fifth, and Eklund went to second on a balk by Melton. But Post 253 catcher Isack Hamilton picked off Robbie Norman at first after he singled and Melton got two groundouts to end the inning.
Field umpire Charlie Underwood ejected Waller after he complained about a balk call with Festus batting in the fifth. The Ballwin dugout was warned more than once to cut the chatter.
Duncan, Leitner and Martin all singled and scored in the sixth. Pratt walked and scored and Hancock swatted a two-out, two-RBI double to make it 11-1.
Ballwin showed some life in its half of the sixth, scoring five runs and knocking Melton and reliever Logan Warren out of the game. Festus manager Zac Bone called on Duncan to put out the fire and the Herculaneum standout struck out Noah Somato for the last out with the bases loaded.
“At the end, I was flustered with everything that was going on in the game and I stopped throwing strikes,” said Melton, a 2019 Jefferson High graduate. “I got aggravated at myself. Usually I don’t sweat that bad.”
Bridges relieved Duncan in the seventh and issued a walk and allowed a base hit with two outs before striking out Hellman to end the game.
The key to the 14-5 win over Jackson was a six-run fourth inning. Duncan started the frame with a home run. Ebersoldt walked, Leitner singled and Martin walked to load the bases with no outs. Wilkinson was hit by a pitch to bring home Ebersoldt. Hamilton then cleared the bases with a three-run triple that gave Festus a 10-4 lead.
Festus starting hurler Brendon Smock gave way to Duncan in the second inning after Jackson took a 4-3 lead. Of the four runs Smock allowed, just one was earned.
Duncan, who threw 108 pitches over the two games, gave way to Leitner in the seventh. With the bases loaded and two outs, Leitner’s 3-2 offering to Tyler Harris was a fly ball to center field to end the game.
Sixth meeting typifies rivalry between Ste. Gen-Festus
It’s a rivalry built to last.
Eight times so far this summer, American Legion District 13 co-commissioners Junie Basler and Zac Bone have put common goals and their friendship aside when they occupy opposite dugouts, Basler as manager of Ste. Genevieve Post 150 and Bone piloting Festus.
When Bone didn’t like the reaction of a Ste. Genevieve infielder at the end of an inning during the district championship on July 21, Basler waved his arms, gesturing to Bone to calm down because he had the matter under control. The game resumed without incident, but Bone’s fire lit Festus’ fuse in two wins and a district title that day.
The teams met for the sixth time this summer on July 25 in the second round of the Zone 4 tournament at Yanks Field, with the stakes getting higher. Ste. Gen starting pitcher Chad Donze improved to 2-1 against Festus this summer as Post 150 sent the district champs to the losers bracket with a 3-0 shutout.
Donze struck out Festus catcher Charlie Pratt to open the seventh inning, and then got Eddie Martin to ground out back to the mound. With two outs, Connor Wilkinson singled. Basler visited the mound to inform Donze he was coming out after the next batter. Christian Hancock doubled, with Wilkinson holding up at third.
Chase Koller relieved Donze, who fired 109 pitches, and got Jacob Bridges on a ground ball to end the game.
“He’s got two breaking balls and he’s throwing them both for strikes,” Festus assistant coach Drew Horrell said of Donze. “He can do that any time in the count. He’s confident out there. He’s got us on our heels.”
Festus has overcome season-ending injuries to pitcher-outfielder Ryan Reando (wrist) and infielder-outfielder Gavin Turley (thumb) and the loss of its best player, Michael Brewer, who signed with the Texas Rangers. But against Donze on this night, Festus managed just four hits and was never able to crank up its aggressive running game.
“We weren’t able to get to first base a whole lot tonight,” Horrell said. “When you’re not drawing walks or hitting, it makes it tough. At this level, you don’t see two, three or four hits in a row.”
Leadoff batter Jacob Bridges was 0-for-3 and reached first base once on a walk. Left-handed hitter Jordan Duncan, who bats behind Bridges, singled in his first at-bat but didn’t get on base again. No. 3 batter Levi Ebersoldt was 0-for-3.
“Our Nos. 1-5 hitters typically carry us, and we’re usually good 1-9, but Donze had us again tonight,” Horrell said.
In the Festus second, Jake Leitner led off with a single and reached second base when Derek Morganthaler mishandled the ball in left field. Donze plunked Pratt with a pitch in the next at-bat and Festus had two runners on with no outs. But Donze ended the threat with three consecutive strikeouts.
Jayden Gegg singled off Festus starting pitcher Jeremy Isenman to start the third and with one out, Isenman hit Grant Staffen with a pitch. Gegg and Staffen scored on Tyler Blum’s double to left field and Ste. Genevieve led 2-0. Isenman had a 1-2 count on Blum before the hit.
“Jeremy gave us a shot today. We just didn’t play well enough defensively,” Horrell said. “We had a couple of errors. We had a couple of balls get away from our catcher (Pratt). We gave them some free bases and they cashed in on it. Tyler Blum had two big hits and that was the difference in the game.”
Morganthaler singled to start the fifth and was moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Staffen. Blum knocked in his third run with a single to make it 3-0. Donze retired the side in order in the sixth, with two more strikeouts, and finished with five K’s. Losing pitcher Isenman pitched five innings.