Jefferson City American Legion Post 5 Seniors manager Dane Hughes gave Hayden Strobel a green light from the third-base coach's box during Thursday night's district contest against Columbia Post 202.
And boy, did the cleanup hitter pull the trigger.
Strobel sent a 3-0 pitch over the left-field fence for a two-run home run in the third inning at the American Legion Sports Complex. When he touched home plate and pointed to the sky, his team had a comfortable 11-0 lead.
The score would not change as Post 5 defeated Columbia in a game shortened to seven innings due to the run rule. Jefferson City's win gave it a 2-0 sweep in the best-of-three district series and a berth to the Zone Tournament next week in Washington.
In the inning prior to his home run, Strobel had a two-run double. He said he was ready to unload on the favorable hitter's count.
"Even if (Hughes) gave me the red light, if it was down the middle, I told myself I was going to swing at it. And I got it," Strobel said.
Hughes was pleased with the plate approach, and especially Strobel's recent production.
"(Strobel) is such a big player for us, not only on the field, but in the dugout as well. He's an important bat in the middle of the lineup and he's been driving in runs," Hughes said. "To see him pick up those RBIs and to start driving the ball with some power was really big for us."
Hughes was also satisfied with the Seniors' offensive output the past two games, especially in the early going. Post 5 scored a combined nine runs in the first inning of those games.
"It's nice again to get those runs to take the pressure off early," Hughes said. "A lot of our hits were up the middle or the other way. We were taking what the pitcher was giving us - he was working us a lot of soft and away."
Post 5 did receive some help in the first inning Thursday night.
Columbia starting pitcher Charles Roller sat down the first two batters in the bottom of the first. Then the wheels came off defensively, as the visitors didn't get out of the inning until recording four errors and surrendering four unearned runs. Adam Grunden kept a hot bat after Wednesday's four-RBI game by producing a run-scoring single in the frame, while Zach Hudspeth had a two-run triple.
Alex Barton drove in two runs with a single in the third for Post 5. Austin Sachse collected two hits, including an RBI bloop single in the third.
Jason Rackers took care of business on the mound for Post 5 with eight strikeouts, surrendering just two hits and no runs.
"(Rackers) set the tone early," Hughes said. "He really started spotting that fastball and working inside."
Rackers exited the game after tossing 62 pitches in four innings. Sam Bowles, Cody Stegemann and Logan Vogel combined for the final three innings of scoreless work.
"We definitely wanted to get those guys some work," Hughes said. "We're going to be relying on them next week, so we wanted to make sure they got some mound time today to get a good feel."
Alex Dickneite, who threw 71 pitches while getting the win Wednesday night, was given a rare at-bat in the bottom of the sixth. He dug into the batter's box sporting two sets of shin guards and tapped a two-hop bloop to the shortstop, who tossed it to first base for the out.
The Post 5 players showed their lighter side as Barton was answering questions in a postgame TV interview, with teammates cutting in and out of the background.
"These guys over the last two weeks are really starting to come together," Hughes said. "They're really comfortable with each other and having a good time. That's what this is about."
Strobel said he hopes this week prepares the team for the Zone Tournament and makes up for some games lost to weather this season.
"It felt good to get here and win districts," he said. "Last year we didn't get to, they just forfeited, so it was good to get a couple games in before Zone."
Hughes said the team should know the Zone schedule this weekend.