Washington Post 218 secured the regular season Junior Legion title in the Ninth District with a nine-inning win Sunday over Daniel Boone at C&H Park.
The game featured the top two teams in the Ninth District standings.
Post 218 (26-5, 19-3) won the outright regular season crown with an 11-9 victory over Daniel Boone (22-6, 16-5).
Washington will be the No. 1 seed for the Ninth District Tournament, which begins this weekend.
“We were able to pick up two big wins over the weekend,” said Post 218 Manager Phillip Kleekamp. “They were both hard-fought victories. Our boys deserve all the credit for hanging in there and continuing to work hard even though we were down early in both contests.”
Washington trailed 7-6 going into the top of the seventh inning, but sent the game into extra innings with a run.
Post 218 scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to grab a 11-7 lead.
Daniel Boone made things interesting with two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn’t pull even.
Washington held a 6-2 lead when Daniel Boone scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Pete Coulter got the start on the mound for Post 218. In 5.1 innings, he allowed five runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Garrett Schoenfeld tossed 2.2 innings in relief to earn the win. He allowed four runs on five hits with two walks and one strikeout.
Justin Schuler got the final three outs for the save. He allowed no runs or hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
“Justin came in the game and looked great to pick up his first save of the season in his first relief appearance of the season,” Kleekamp said. “ He went right after the hitters to preserve a big win and ensure an outright win of the regular season Ninth District championship.”
Leading the 10-hit attack for Post 218 was Ross Seitter, who reached base four times with three hits and a walk to go with two runs.
Kevin Birk added two hits (one double), one walk, one RBI and one run.
Sam Katzung had one hit, two walks and two runs.
Todd Kleekamp finished with one hit (triple), one walk, two RBIs and two runs.
Teddy Harrison totaled one hit, one walk, one RBI and one run.
Brian Trigg had one hit, one RBI and one run.
Anthony Chance added one hit and one run.
Aaron Meyer registered two walks, one RBI and one run.
“For the second time in two games, we battled back to tie the ball game in the top of the seventh. Garrett Schoenfeld, who came in relief for Pete Coulter in the sixth, got out of a jam in the seventh to force extra innings,” Kleekamp said. “We were able to take advantage of a few errors and a passed ball to bust the game open. We took a lot of quality at-bats and forced Boone to make plays.”
De Soto
Post 218 had another come-from-behind victory Friday at Ronsick Field over De Soto, 6-5.
“We were really pleased with the fact that boys kept battling after getting down early. We fought back and were able to put enough hits together to tie the ball game,” Kleekamp said. “This was a real big win for our club. It showed that we are never out of a game and should be a big confidence boost heading into the district tournament.”
Washington trailed 5-0 after De Soto scored five runs in the top of the third inning, but Post 218 rallied for one run in the bottom of the fifth inning, four in the sixth and one in the seventh.
“De Soto was able to take advantage of a few bloop hits and an error to put five runs on the board in the top of the third inning,” Kleekamp said. “The boys didn’t give up after getting down five runs. Brian Trigg scored on a passed ball to push the winning run across in the bottom of the seventh.”
Aaron Meyer registered 13 strikeouts over seven innings to earn the win.
“Although Aaron allowed five runs, he pitched a great game,” Kleekamp said. “DeSoto took advantage of a few of our mistakes in the third inning, but Aaron really pitched well, racking up 13 strikeouts while only walking one batter. It was probably Aaron’s best outing of the season. Hopefully he can keep that momentum heading into the district tournament.”
Tyler Straatmann and Brian Trigg both had two hits to pace Post 218 at the plate. Trigg added a walk and two runs. Straatmann walked and had one RBI.
Seitter, Chance, Harrison, Kleekamp and Schoenfeld each added one hit. Chance also walked and scored. Harrison had one walk and one RBI. Kleekamp had one RBI and one run. Schoenfeld drew a walk. Seitter scored one run.
Schuler walked and had one RBI. Katzung drew a walk. Scott Byrne scored a run.
