SEDALIA — For the second year in a row, Washington Post 218 has advanced to the Missouri Senior Legion State Tournament title series.
However, this time Washington is the final undefeated team in the tournament thanks to an 11-6 victory over Creve Coeur Post 397 Friday afternoon.
Washington (38-7) now plays Creve Couer again for the state title Saturday at 1 p.m. Creve Couer defeated Hillcrest Friday night, 2-1. Hillcrest advanced by knocking out Independence Post 21, 8-4.
Creve Coeur Game
In the winners' bracket final between Washington and Creve Coeur, no player stood out more than Washington's Trent Leimkuehler.
Leimkuehler rapped out three hits, including two triples and a home run. He scored three times and drove home one.
And that was just at the plate.
Leimkuehler came into the game in the sixth inning to relieve Brendan Kleekamp and threw 3.1 frames while allowing one run on one hit and two walks. He struck out three while earning the save.
Leimkuehler was just one of Washington's standouts in the game. Eight different Post 218 batters had hits. Mike McGilvray led the way with four hits, two runs and an RBI.
Matt Jones ended with three hits, three runs and two RBIs. One of his hits was a home run.
Jack Kopmann had three hits while driving in three runs.
Sam Deschenes picked up where he left off Thursday with two hits, including a double. He scored once and drove in two.
Dustin Howard had one hit and two runs. He also was hit by a pitch.
Grant Eckelkamp had one hit and an RBI.
Noah Borgerding closed with one hit.
Washington outhit Creve Coeur in the game, 18-11.
Brendan Kleekamp started on the hill for Washington and earned the victory. He worked through 5.2 innings while throwing 126 pitches. He allowed five runs on 10 hits and four walks while fanning four.
Both teams hit the ball hard in the game. Lucas Mueller, who started on the hill for Creve Coeur, led Post 397 with three hits.
Evan Block had two hits. Eddie Bargmann, Dan McCune, Jordan Goldenberg, Andrew Childs, Kyle Downey and Matt Tarman each had one hit.
Lucas Mueller threw three innings, allowing five runs on seven hits. He struck out two.
Jonathan Brand, who pitched against Independence Thursday night, relieved and threw two innings while allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits.
Brian Hillhouse threw the last three innings, allowing four runs on six hits (including two home runs) and one walk. He struck out two.
Creve Coeur, which recorded 17 hits against Independence, came out swinging with single runs in the first and second innings.
Washington came back with four runs in the bottom of the second Deschenes and Kopmann each drove in two.
Washington added another run in the third inning and two more in the fifth.
Creve Coeur scored three times in the top of the sixth. Washington responded with Leimkuehler's home run in the sixth and another run in the seventh.
In the eighth, Jones cracked a two-run home run over the left field fence.
Creve Coeur scored once in the ninth, but that was it.
Creve Coeur made two errors in the game to one for Washington. Creve Coeur left 10 runners on base. Washington stranded nine.
Be sure to see next Wednesday's Missourian for full coverage.
