JACKSON - The Jefferson City American Legion Post 5 Freshmen made it to the end of the Missouri A State Tournament on Saturday. But with a taxed pitching staff, it came at a cost.
Post 5 won its third consecutive elimination game, beating Union Post 279 by a score of 4-3 to advance to the championship game. However, Jefferson City's tournament soon came to an end with a 17-1 loss in a rematch against Jackson Post 158.
Post 5 fell behind 1-0 through two innings against Union, and managed only three hits through the first four innings.
In the bottom of the fifth, down 2-0, Post 5's offense came around. A pair of errors led to the team's first run, and after a single by Blake Gentges, Nate Roark hit a two-out, two-run double that put Jefferson City ahead 3-2.
Post 5 added an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI single by Gentges, who finished 3-for-4 with three singles.
Union (25-9-2) responded with one run in the top of the seventh to make it a one-run game, but Kannon Talken stranded the tying run on second base to end the game.
Roark earned the win in relief of Chase Schnieders. Roark pitched three innings and allowed one run on two hits with one walk and one strikeout. Talken got the save, walking three and striking out one in two innings.
Roark also batted 2-for-4 with a single and a double, while Cole Scheulen added a pair of singles.
Jackson (25-3) led from start to finish in the championship game, scoring a run in every inning except the fourth.
Much like their first meeting, Jackson finished the game with a big seventh inning, scoring eight runs to pull away to a commanding win.
Talken drew a bases-loaded walk in the fourth, scoring David Hofherr for Jefferson City's only run to make the score 4-1.
Post 5 (22-14-2) finished with four hits. Hofherr had a double, while Sam Schaefer, Schnieders and Roark each had one single.