Errors by the defense and three walks to lead off the second inning by Eureka Post 177 pitcher Levi Fieser suffocated the team’s chances at winning its first American Legion baseball AAA state championship.
Playing on its home Ronsick Field on July 26, host Washington Post 218 took advantage of those mistakes to take an early 3-0 lead, pitcher Kaleb Hoss went the distance and Washington held on for a 5-2 victory. Hoss struck out three, walked three, allowed five hits, and the two runs Eureka (21-11) scored were unearned.
Several close calls at first base went in Post 218’s direction.
“In the first inning, a call didn’t go our way, and we had to use an extra 15 pitches,” said Parker Schnieders, who completed his first season as the Post 177 manager.
After walking the first three batters in the second inning, Fieser was relieved by Colton Benefield, but the Post 177 defense committed two errors behind Benefield, allowing two more runs for a 3-0 Washington lead. Benefield fanned the next three batters and his sturdy relief appearance kept Eureka in the ballgame.
“Colton came in and competed. He’s a young guy, and we’re going to have him back. I’m proud of him,” Schnieders said.
With two outs in the third, third baseman Cole Rogers got Post 177 on the board with a two-out, two-run double to bring home Benefield and Colton Kossuth. Rogers had an RBI double against Oak Grove Post 379 the day before. Hoss got a strikeout to end the inning, leaving Rogers at second to maintain a 3-2 lead.
Post 218 (32-6-1), winners of state for the first time since 2023, completed the game’s scoring in the fourth. Drew Buehler led off with a single, and was replaced by courtesy runner Jeremiah Bollmann, who went to second on a sac bunt. Evan Mallinkrodt’s single, combined with a Eureka error, let Bollmann score for a 4-2 lead. Lane Mallinkrodt singled next, and Evan scored on a sac fly by Andrew Elbert.
Hoss got the first two outs in the Eureka fourth before catcher Ben Brielmaier reached on an error. Hoss hit Alex Watson with a pitch for a second base runner, and Brady Nenninger singled to left field, but Schmidt, courtesy runner for Brielmaier, was thrown out at home.
Both teams were retired in order in the fifth. With one out in the Post 177 sixth, Trae Peterson lashed a double, and Cade Gustafson pushed Peterson to third with a single. But Washington turned a 6-4-3 double play in another photo finish when Brielmaier was called out at first.
Trevor Oravetz relieved Benefield for the seventh , and after getting a pop out to begin the frame, he walked the next two batters. Threatening to increase its lead, Post 218 stranded those two runners.
Jake Yallaly started the Post 177 seventh against Hoss with a single, but was quickly erased by another double play. Hoss struck out Benefield to end the game.
Schnieders was satisfied with the season.
“Since Day 1, we’ve been talking about winning a state title,” he said. “First good step. We battled all year. I couldn’t be more proud of these guys.”
Washington advanced to the Mid-South Regional Tournament in Cherryville, N.C., from Aug. 5-9.
The American Legion World Series is Aug. 13-18 in Shelby, N.C.
The Mid-South champion will play in the Stripes Division. The Stars is the other division.
Schmidt goes the distance on mound
In between stops as a 2026 graduate of CBC and an incoming freshman at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., Trevor Schmidt was on the mound in Washington, Mo. in a do-or-die game for the Eureka Post 177 American Legion baseball team.
After losing to Washington Post 218 6-5 on July 23 at Ronsick Field in Washington, Eureka had to win two games on July 25 to avoid elimination from the AAA state championships.
In the first game July 25, Schmidt pitched a complete game and Post 177 eliminated Oak Grove Post 379 with a 4-1 victory. Schmidt only allowed three hits, but walked six batters and hit one with a pitch. The Eureka defense committed two errors behind him.
The game had an early start, but by the seventh inning, the temperature combined with the heat index was close to 100 degrees. Schmidt opened the seventh by getting behind in the count 3-0 to Mickey Seymour, before coming all the way back to strike out Seymour. Drenched in sweat, Schmidt walked Luke Schartz in four pitches. A fly out and ground out to Cole Benefield at shortstop finished the game.
It’s not the first time Schmidt has relied on his defense to help finish a start on the mound.
“I try to trust my defense more than I normally do,” Schmidt said. “Obviously, the velocity’s going to be a bit slower. But you’ve made it that far, so why not finish? I’m not going to blow people away with my fastball, so I try to get a lot of soft contacts, fly balls, pop ups.”
Schmidt said he won’t play baseball at Creighton and is having fun finishing out his career with 177.
“It’s a lot different than high school. It’s a lot more fun,” he said. “You play games during the week, so you don’t lose all of your weekends. It’s affordable. You get to play with guys you know.”
“It was a gutsy performance by Trevor,” said first-year Eureka manager Parker Schnieders. “We wanted him to throw strikes, let the defense work, and he did just that. He’s really battled for us all year.”
So has 2026 Eureka High graduate Cole Rogers, who’s turned into a splendid third baseman for 177 this summer. Rogers assisted on all three outs in the first inning against Oak Grove. He had an RBI double in the fifth.
“I was hoping he’d get all 21 (outs),” Schnieders said in jest. “No, he’s another guy who steps and does all of the things right. You can tell he’s a baseball guy who’s been trained the right way.”
Schmidt and Post 379 pitcher Mayson Buscher retired the side in order in the first. Buscher walked Levi Fieser and Trae Peterson to start the Eureka second. With two outs, and Fieser and Peterson in scoring position, Cade Gustafson hit a chopper to third baseman Mason Clark, whose throw to first baseman Jared Hubbard was wild. The error allowed both runners to score the game’s first two runs.
Schmidt worked around a single and walk in the second. In the 177 third, Colton Benefield led off with a walk, went to second on an error, got to third on a passed ball, and scored to give Eureka a 3-0 lead on a wild pitch by Buscher.
Oak Grove had two runners aboard in the bottom of the third with one out, but right fielder Brady Nenninger was positioned perfectly in right field to catch two sharp lineouts to end the inning.
Post 379 scored its run in the fourth when Schmidt opened the frame by hitting Spencer Chambers with a pitch. Gage Lambert came in to be a courtesy runner for Chambers, the team’s catcher. Lambert went to second after a walk and after he stole third, scored on an error to cut the Eureka lead to 3-1.
Post 177 got the run right back in the fifth when with one out, Benefield singled and scored on Rogers’ two-out double.
“They had a decent arm on the mound, and he had some decent pitches, but we found a way to get runners on early. That pushed our momentum,” Rogers said.
Ethan Pederson relieved Buscher, and allowed one hit in 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
“We got deep into counts, and whenever you work pitchers like that, mistakes happen. I was happy with our lineup,” Schnieders said.
Gustafson pitches second complete game in a row
Cade Gustafson was every bit as effective on the mound for Eureka when it beat Jefferson City Post 5 4-2 in the second game July 25. Gustafson pitched all seven innings, allowed six hits and two walks and fanned six.
At the plate, Fieser was 2-for-4 with a run scored, Watson had an RBI single in the second, and after Jefferson City tied the game 2-2 in its half of the inning, Peterson scored after a Post 5 error in the third for the go-ahead run. Fieser made it 4-2 when, after leading off the inning with a single and stealing third, he scored after another error.
Gustafson struck out the last two Jefferson City batters of the game. He’s headed to play baseball at Missouri Southern State University.