A cacophony of sound surrounded Yanks Field in Ste. Genevieve last week.
Behind the stadium hosting the American Legion District 13 baseball tournament, exhausts belched loudly from the tractor pulls at the county fair. Beyond the outfield fence, train cars screeched and banged together on the steel rails that parallel the riverbanks in this Mississippi River town of fewer than 5,000 people.
Occasionally punctuating the din was the fierce crack of a wood bat, followed by cheers of delight from fans of Festus Post 253, not bothered at all by the heat and humidity that are always a condition of this tournament.
With one swing of his bat, in fact, Festus catcher Collin Mann ended the proceedings with a three-run single that scored Gunnison Heine, Jacob Bridges and Gavin Turley for an 11-1 victory over Bonne Terre Post 83, securing a second straight District 13 title for Festus.
It’s the 20th district crown in the last 26 years for Post 253, which won seven in a row from 2008 through 2014 but yielded to bottom-seed Farmington in 2015 and Ste. Genevieve in 2016.
The winning runs came off Bonne Terre reliever Cody Hubbard and ended the game in five innings under the 10-run mercy rule.
Heine was 3-for-3 with three RBIs against the Bulldogs on Friday and belted a game-winning two-run triple in a 3-1 victory over Post 83 earlier in the tournament.
“I felt like I was seeing the ball this week,” said Heine, a 2017 Jefferson graduate. “I’m just ecstatic about the way this team played with so much fight. Our pitchers absolutely dominated this tournament. I’m excited to be back-to-back district champions.”
“He absolutely hammered the baseball in that two-out situation and he had really good at-bats all night,” Festus manager Zac Bone said about Heine. “I’m really proud of him and I got choked up talking about him the other night because he’s such a tremendous team guy.”
Festus is back in Ste. Gen this week for the Zone 4 tournament. Post 150 received an automatic bid as host of the event and played Thoman-Boothe Post 338 of District 10 on Wednesday after the Leader deadline. Festus plays that winner today (July 19) at 8 p.m. The zone winner will advance to the state championship tournament next week in Sedalia.
With Mineral Area College slugger Jared Jones and hard-hitting teammates Kolton Poorman and Karson Kekec batting around him, no lead is truly safe against Bonne Terre. But Post 253 right-hander Michael Brewer was up to the task in the championship, limiting Post 83 to one unearned run.
“If they have home run power, I try to keep my pitches low and throw off-speed pitches,” Brewer said.
Bone said he didn’t feel comfortable against the Bulldogs until Mann’s hit sealed the win.
“Bonne Terre has a really potent lineup,” said Bone, who is in his eighth season at the helm. “They hit some good baseballs, and we had a chance to extend our lead through the middle innings and weren’t able to cash in until the fifth.”
Two errors at third base by Charlie Pratt opened the door for Post 83 to score first. Both balls hit by Briley Smith and Jones were high hoppers and hard chances. With two outs, Kekec delivered an RBI single for a 1-0 lead.
Unfazed by that opening salvo, Post 253 came right back against Bulldog hurler Poorman as Turley, Mann, Brewer and Jake Leitner all singled and scored in the bottom of the first inning. Pratt walked and scored from third on a balk. Heine had a two-run single, followed by Bridges’ run-scoring hit.
Brewer walked Karter Kekec to start the Bonne Terre second and issued a free pass to Jacob Bone with two outs. But Brewer induced a groundout to shortstop to end the inning. He again pitched around two baserunners in the third with one of his five strikeouts. He struck out at least one batter per inning.
“Michael competed well and gave up one unearned run,” Bone said. “It was a classic Michael Brewer outing. His skill set and ability are tremendous, but his competitiveness is off that charts and that’s the most impressive thing about him.”
Post 253 had a golden opportunity to extend its lead in the third when it loaded the bases with nobody out. Poorman hit Matt Rosen with a pitch, Pratt reached on an error and Heine laid down a perfect bunt single. But then Festus lost both Rosen and Pratt on close plays at home plate to end the threat.
There was no more scoring until Festus decided the outcome in the fifth. Brennan Pryor singled to open the frame and reached second on an error, but was forced out at third on a fielder’s choice by Rosen. Levi Roth pinch hit for Pratt and got aboard with a fielder’s choice bunt. Roth took second on a passed ball and scored on Turley’s base hit. Mann wiped the bases clean in the next at-bat.
Festus improved to 11-0 this season against District 13 opponents.
“That’s a testament to the character of these kids,” Bone said. “I really believe this is the most competitive American Legion district in the state. To answer the bell 11 times and find a way, whether it’s close late or us jumping out big early, I’m proud of their effort.”