NEW ORLEANS - It wasn't pretty, but the Jefferson City Post 5 Seniors got the job done Wednesday night.
New Orleans Post 285 had runners on second and third base with no outs in top of the seventh inning, but relief pitcher Jason Rackers struck out the next three batters he faced to wrap up a 2-1 win in the first round of the Mid-South Regional Tournament at Kirsch Rooney Stadium.
Zach Woehr hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the first and later scored on a groundout by Hayden Hirschvogel to give Post 5 a 1-0 lead.
Starting pitcher Skyler Dickneite held New Orleans hitless through the first three innings, but Post 285 had a pair of singles in the fourth to break up the no-hitter. Matt Alexander singled to score Will Hellmers to tie the game at 1.
Zach Stiles had a leadoff single in the bottom half of the inning for Jefferson City and advanced to third on an error on a pickoff attempt. Hellmers, the New Orleans pitcher, kept Stiles at third with a groundout and a strikeout, but Drew Bax singled on the first pitch he saw, scoring Stiles to give Post 5 a one-run lead again.
Ryan Paschal relieved Dickneite in the fifth. Dickneite picked up the win, allowing one run on two hits with two walks and six strikeouts in 4 innings.
Paschal walked two batters in the fifth and two more in the sixth, but all four were stranded on base. Rackers came into the game with runners on the corners and one out in the sixth. He needed seven pitches to strike out two batters to escape the jam.
New Orleans drew a leadoff walk and added a bunt single in the seventh. Both runners advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch before Rackers struck out the side.
Bax singled in both his plate appearances and was the only player for either team to have a multi-hit game.
Jefferson City (25-9) will play Bryant (Ark.) Post 298 (44-9) in a winner's bracket matchup at 6 p.m. tonight. Bryant, the defending regional champion, defeated Salina (Kan.) Post 298 by a score of 8-3 on Wednesday.