WASHINGTON - The Jefferson City Post 5 Juniors began their season this weekend with a second-place finish in the Washington Post 218 AA Memorial Weekend Tournament at Ronsick Field.
Post 5 finished with a 1-1 record in pool play Saturday, defeating Kirkwood 4-0 and losing 4-2 to the Rage. That advanced the Juniors to the semifinals Sunday, when they defeated Washington 8-2 in eight innings.
In Monday's championship game, Jefferson City lost 11-3 in six innings to Eureka Post 177.
In the tournament opener against Kirkwood, Lane Wilson, Max Buscher and Dalton Scheulen combined to pitch a four-hit shutout. Wilson went three-plus innings and walked one and struck out two, Buscher threw 2 innings of relief for the win and Scheulen walked one and struck out two in the final 1 innings.
Post 5 scored three runs in the bottom of the second inning and one more in the fourth. Luke Cavender, Scheulen and Jude Rader each had RBI singles in the win, while Jack Robertson drove in the final run on an error.
Jefferson City led 2-0 after two innings against the Rage, who tied the game in the third and took the lead in the fifth, adding an insurance run in the seventh.
Hunter Berendzen pitched five innings of Post 5, giving up three runs on four hits with three walks and eight strikeouts. Trevor Jordan threw the final two innings and allowed one run on two hits and struck out one.
Scheulen scored on a wild pitch in the first inning and Cavender drove in the other run with a groundout in the second. Post 5 finished with five hits, all singles.
In the bracket play semifinal, Washington's Ian Junkin had a no-hitter going until Buscher singled up the middle with two outs in the top of the sixth inning.
Washington led 2-1 going to the top of the seventh, but Post 5 extended the game when Robertson hit a one-out double to score Wilson.
Jefferson City then scored six runs in the eighth inning, taking advantage of three walks. Wilson and Robertson each had an RBI single in the extra inning.
Nate Roark threw 5 innings for Jefferson City, giving up two runs on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Buscher earned the win with 2 innings of scoreless relief, scattering three hits.
In the championship game, the score was tied at 2 after four innings, but Eureka took control with three runs in the fifth and six more in the sixth to win by run-rule.
Berendzen had RBI singles in the second and fourth innings for Post 5, while Roark had an RBI single in the fifth to make the score 5-3.
Roark finished the game with three hits, adding a single in the first and a double in the fourth.
Wilson took the loss for Jefferson City (2-2), striking out four in 4 innings. Jordan pitched the final 1 innings.