The Jefferson City American Legion Post 5 Seniors are in the zone in more ways than one.
After outscoring Columbia Post 202 17-4 to sweep a best-of-3 series in district 8, Post 5 is headed to Washington next week for the Zone Tournament.
"We played these guys last year and they got us Game 1, so we didn't want that same thing happen again this year," Post 5 coach Curt Vaughn said following Friday night's 8-1 win against Post 202 at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex. "The guys came out ready and knew they had to come play baseball and put up runs and win the game."
Six Jefferson City players reached base at least twice while Skyler Dickneite and Drew Boessen combined for a six-hitter and 11 strikeouts.
Boessen was on tap to start Game 3 if needed, but he closed out the final three innings with three strikeouts and one hit allowed to prevent a doubleheader from occurring.
"We have plenty of arms to get through games," Vaughn said.
Dickneite got the win, striking out two in four of his six innings.
Post 202 scored its lone run in the fourth with Wyatt Branson's triple to the gap in left field and Brendan Gray's groundout.
Columbia got a pair of singles in the second but a strikeout on a breaking ball in the dirt stranded the runners.
Dickneite pitched around a leadoff walk in the third with a groundout and two strikeouts, including a swing and a miss on a pitch low and away.
"You can tell with Dickneite early how he's going to be that game," Vaughn said. "When he gets on top of hitters, he's a tough matchup for a lot of guys because he's got a good off-speed pitch and he usually spots up well."
Jefferson City gave Dickneite a 2-0 lead before he retired Columbia in order in the bottom of the first.
Zach Stiles and Brandon Williams led off the game with singles, scoring on singles from Jonathan Backes and Hayden Hirschvogel.
Stephen Wilson walked one between two flyouts to strand the bases loaded. Wilson allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk. Andrew Baker pitched six innings of relief, surrendering four runs (two earned) on six hits and four walks with four strikeouts.
Wilson hit Gaven Strobel with a pitch to lead off the third. Courtesy runner Parker Schnieders stole second and scored on Hirschvogel's second RBI single.
Hischvogel scored two batters later on Ryan Paschal's single to center field, making it 4-0.
Paschal went 3-for-4 with that RBI. Stiles and Hirschvogel each had two hits. Backes tallied three RBI, adding one on a bases-loaded walk in the sixth and a sacrifice fly in a two-run eighth inning.
"We have a good 1 through 9 and we have a few guys on the bench that can contribute, too," Vaughn said. "We've got the offense, we definitely have the arms. If we put together hits I think we're a pretty dangerous team."
Jefferson City collected 13 hits Friday, with nine players recording at least one.
"That stuff carries over," Vaughn said. "That's why I kept telling the guys, 'This game might be in hand, but build for next week.'"
The Zone Tournament starts Thursday in Washington with the next step being the state tournament in Sedalia.
"This last month of baseball for us we've been working towards our main goal of getting back to Sedalia to play in the state championship," Vaughn said. "I know our zone is always tough. It's usually good competition. You really have to come ready to play."