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Derrick Webb           Published 3:38 p.m. ET July 24, 2017        Article Courtesy of the Chillicothe Gazette

 

CHILLICOTHE – After entering last week’s American Legion Region V Tournament at 14-18, it would’ve been easy for Chillicothe Post 757 to lay down, drop its first two ballgames and call it a summer.

In fact, the Colts would’ve had a closet full of excuses at their disposal to explain an early exit: multiple injuries, key player departures during the middle of the season, a brutal schedule, etc.

 Instead, the players chose to fight and the result was a tournament run they won’t soon forget.

“We had injuries all year long and we had a few kids who left the team for their own reasons,” 757 coach Tom Barr said. “We usually go into the tournament with an 18-man roster. Instead, we ended up playing 56 innings over the course of three days with 13 kids. At the end, I told them that I was as proud of them as I had ever been of any group. It was a major gut check and what they did was impressive.”

With that group of 13, Post 757 finished as the Region V runner-up, second to Circleville Post 134. But it wasn’t the end result that was impressive, it was the Colts’ journey to get there.

Monday, they beat Hillsboro Post 129 by a 7-6 final before falling to No. 1 seeded Circleville 134, 9-4.

That loss ignited a fire.

“When we came into Tuesday, it was a sense of no nonsense,” Barr said. “The kids knew we could either roll over and die or come out swinging. Portsmouth (Post 23) comes out, jumps on us and takes an 8-2 lead. But in a back-and-forth game, we stepped up. We did that all week.”

The Colts eventually pounded out 21 hits against Portsmouth 23, squeaking out a 14-13 win.

Their reward was a date with Chillicothe Post 62 later that day, where they produced more magic.

After heading into the ninth inning trailing Post 62 9-5, 757 scored four runs in the ninth to tie it and nine more in the 10^th to secure an 18-9 win, setting up a meeting with Waverly Post 142, Wednesday.

“I just kept telling the guys that it’s a marathon,” Barr said. “We had to go into every game knowing anything could happen. It doesn’t matter what the score is at any point if you’re still alive and kicking.”

Running low on arms, 757 pulled out a 6-4 win over 142 while starting Sam Walsh on the mound, a pitcher that spent most of his summer playing for 757’s junior team.

“We sent Sam out there and he did a great job for us,” Barr said. “That’s how everybody on our roster played. They knew their role and embraced it. Anything they could do to help, that’s what they did.”

The Colts eventually fell in their next contest, 16-6, to Circleville 134 in the championship game.

But considering 757’s initial chances at even advancing into the title game, Barr was more than happy with his team’s efforts.

“We could’ve lost our first two games and been done. And, the crazy part? Nobody would’ve been surprised,” he said. “We came back to win every game we won. We had kids throwing that we hadn’t thrown all summer. They knew it was their last opportunity to lay it all on the line and they stepped up.”

In total, the Colts’ offense hit a collective .339 during the tournament run, producing 55 runs. Outstanding individual performers included Walsh (.381, nine RBIs), Bo Dratwa (.481, seven RBIs), Brian Smith (.462, seven runs) and Trenton Harris (.419, nine runs).

While 757 will say goodbye to three 18-year-olds, including Harris and Smith, the future looks bright.

The senior team ends its season at 18-20, the junior team finished 28-11 and the 13U Colts were 18-6 – good for an overall program record of 64-37.

“It's an exciting time to be part of the Chillicothe 757 Colts baseball program and represent our community in a positive way,” Barr said. “We've already started scheduling games and tryouts for 2018, our 49th consecutive year in Chillicothe. We’re in great shape moving forward.”

 Derrick Webb, Reporter11:02 p.m. EDT July 20, 2016

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

The Chillicothe Post 757 Colts will be playing a full fall baseball schedule again in 2016. We are currently scheduling games for our fall teams and are looking for teams to play Sunday DHs. 

CHILLICOTHE - Both Chillicothe Post 757's Jacob Chester and Chillicothe Post 62's Tanner Popp dealt gems Sunday morning in the first round of the American Legion Region V Tournament at VA Memorial Stadium.

And, thanks to their offenses, both picked up wins on the mound to help their teams advance further into the winners' bracket.

Behind Chester, the Colts (13-19) topped Hillsboro 129 by a 12-1 final in seven innings as the Riverbats (12-10), behind Popp, beat Portsmouth 23 by a 7-1 count.

In the early contest, 757 put up a run in the bottom of the first inning after Chester struck out the side. That set the tone for the rest of the day's action.

"Jacob was solid all day and he worked ahead all day," 757 coach Tom Barr said. "He had a couple of games where he got roughed up pretty good, especially on our Carolina trip. But he's been a solid starter for us for three years now. He knows how to get better and he's gotten better every outing. Not many teams are going to hit the ball against him when he works like he did today. He was zoned in and that's what we expect."

Brian Smith came around to score the game's first run on a Hillsboro fielding error, making it 1-0. In the second, Trenton Harris tripled and scored on a passed ball before Smith reached third, after walking, and stole home to give the Colts a 3-0 edge.

Hillsboro (13-25) went 1-2-3 in the top of the third, making way for 757 to tack on four more, making it 7-0 thanks to a passed ball, a two-run double from Harris and an RBI triple from Hayden Henness.

In the fifth, the Colts scored two more on a two-run single from Eli Kunkel before scoring three in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk, a sacrifice fly and an RBI fielder's choice. Post 129 scored its only run — unearned — in the top of the inning.

"We had 12 hits and 12 runs today. What it really came down to was timely hitting," Barr said. "We want to go out and string some things together. That's what we were able to do. It's a game changer and we saw that today."

Chester threw all seven frames, allowing three hits and striking out nine in 93 pitches. Harris led the Colts' offense, finishing 3-for-4 with a double, triple, three runs and two RBIs. Smith followed by going 1-for-2 with three runs and an RBI while Kunkel finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in.

After 757 exited its dugout, the Riverbats took to theirs and quickly found out Popp was taking no prisoners.

The right-hander out of Southeastern High School continued to mow down Portsmouth's lineup, allowing his team to figure out how to put runs on the board. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, 62's offense finally broke through.

Gage Jones started the party with a one-out double before scoring on a fielder's choice to force a tie. After right fielder Jeremy Brooks nailed a runner trying to score at home plate to end the top of the fifth, 62 took a lead and kept it.

Russell Throckmorton doubled with one out, making way for Brooks to single up the gut. With runners on the corners and one out, Jones tripled to deep center field, giving the Riverbats a 3-1 advantage. Jones then scored on an RBI single from Owen Diehl, stretching the lead to 4-1.

In the seventh, Jones drove in Popp to make it 5-1 before both Josh McCorkle and Izak Diehl crossed home plate in the eighth to produce the game's final tally.

Popp got the victory in six innings of work. He allowed five hits and did not surrender an earned run. Josh George threw three innings of relief, allowing two hits.

At the dish, Jones was 2-for-5 with a double, triple, two runs and three RBIs. Popp finished 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI while Throckmorton was 1-for-4 with a double and a run.

The Riverbats will now face Waverly 142 at 9 a.m. Monday as the Colts take on top-seeded Circleville 134 at 3 p.m. Both games will be played at VA Memorial Stadium in the championship quarterfinals portion of the winners' bracket.

dwebb@chillicothegazette.com

Twitter: @dw1509

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The Gazette will have live coverage, Monday, of the American Legion Region V Tournament at VA Memorial Stadium. Follow @dw1509 on Twitter for updates throughout the event and visit chillicothegazette.com for full details.

Gazette Staff 8:43 p.m. EDT July 1, 2016

PORTSMOUTH - After getting off the schneid with a 6-5 win over Hillsboro Thursday, Chillicothe Post 757 found itself back in the L column Friday night.

On the road at Branch Rickey Park in Portsmouth, the Colts (8-14) fell to Post 23 by a 7-1 final, carving out just six hits in the process.

Left-hander JD Blevins (2-4) took the loss on the mound, throwing five innings of six-hits baseball. Blevins allowed seven runs, four earned, and struck out eight hitters while walking two.

Leading the Colts’ offense was Zack Stapleton, who went 2-for-2, while Skylar McDonald, Eli Kunkel, Bo Dratwa, and Trenton Harris all finished with one hit each. Dratwa scored 757’s lone run.

Chillicothe will get back to business Tuesday night at VA Memorial Stadium, taking on Waverly Post 142 at 4 p.m.