Derrick Webb, Reporter
CHILLICOTHE - A mixed bag of results led to a summer baseball season ending Wednesday evening.
After beating Hillsboro Post 129 early in the day to advance in the 2016 Region V American Legion Tournament at VA Memorial Stadium, Chillicothe Post 757 fell 17-7 to Waverly Post 142 in the nightcap, effectively ending their 2016 campaign.
"This week is always a grind," Chillicothe Post 757 coach Tom Barr said. "Win, lose or draw, you have to tip your cap to both Jacob Chester and JD Blevins. Both of those guys manned up for us and threw well on short rest. They're both competitors. That's the kind of mentality they have."
As Barr eluded to, Chester carried the Colts (15-21) to a victory against Hillsboro earlier in the day. In a 4-3 win, Chester was handed a no-decision but threw 8 1/3 innings before getting the hook. His final line included 104 pitches, seven hits allowed, a single earned run and three strikeouts.
"We probably could have done a better job as a coaching staff of moving some guys around a little more but at this point in the season, you've got to go with who you think your best is and Jacob was that," Barr said.
With the game scoreless, 757 took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as Trenton Harris scored on an RBI triple off the bat of Blevins. Hillsboro answered in the fifth on an RBI groundout to make it 1-1.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Colts retook the lead thanks to RBI doubles from Anthony Sipple and Zack Stapleton. That 3-1 edge lasted until the top of the seventh when 129 cut the deficit to 3-2 on an RBI single. Hillsboro forced a 3-3 stalemate in the ninth before 757 came up with some late inning heroics.
Brian Smith drew a walk and immediately stole second base to put himself in scoring position. Stapleton laid down a bunt to move Smith to third and with Eli Kunkel standing at the plate, Smith scored on a passed ball to hand the Colts a 4-3 walk-off win.
"I thought our guys came out and fought hard to get that first win today," Barr said. "That's not an easy thing to do after playing in 90-degree heat most of the week. When (Smith) got to third, we knew we had a pretty good shot."
Blevins was credited with the win after pitching 2/3 of an inning of relief. The southpaw then started the next contest, nearly three hours later, and gave up just three earned runs to Waverly in five innings of work.
The Shockers (16-13) fell to Circleville Post 134 to begin the day by a 14-4 final. They were then pitted against 757 in the losers' bracket championship.
With Waverly leading 4-3 heading into the fifth inning, 757 strung together four runs on three hits, three walks and a passed ball to seize a 7-4 advantage. 142 answered with three runs in the sixth to force a 7-7 tie. The Shockers pounded out 10 runs in the next two innings to win by the run-rule.
"We did what we had to do to get to the championship," Waverly coach Johnathan Teeters said. "Give our team credit for bouncing back after that first game and coming out ready to play. We really started to hit the ball. Hopefully, that will carry over until tomorrow. Our guys will be ready to go."
On the day, Waverly's Logan Shoupe was 4-for-7 with an RBI and five runs scored. Jared Alley followed by finishing 3-for-7 with a double, four runs and a pair of RBIs. Logan Kottenbrook was also productive with a 3-for-8 day including two runs, two doubles and an RBI.
For 757, Sipple led the offense by going 5-for-8 with three RBIs, two doubles and two runs. Hayden Henness helped out by finishing 3-for-7 with an RBI and a run as Stapleton was 2-for-7 with an RBI, a double and a run.
As the Colts look towards 2017, Waverly will meet with Circleville 134 in the Region V district championship at 4 p.m. Thursday, back at VA Memorial Stadium.
"The guys who are wanting to come back are going to have to tryout just like everyone else," Barr said. "We're going to take the guys who are willing to come in and do what they need to do, what we expect them to do. We have guys in our program who donate hundreds of hours and they deserve the best product we can put on the field. That's the goal."
dwebb@chillicothegazette.com
Twitter: @dw1509
