Friday, 17 June 2016 04:32

Post 757 opens Jadwin Memorial with win over Post 62

Rate this item
(0 votes)

, Reporter 10:54 p.m. EDT June 16, 2016

CHILLICOTHE - Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Chillicothe Post 757's Brian Smith came through with a two-out, two-run single to give the Colts a 2-1 lead.

They never looked back.

Post 757 (6-5) opened this weekend's fifth annual Jim Jadwin Memorial Tournament with a 6-2 win over rival Chillicothe Post 62 on Thursday night at VA Memorial Stadium.

"Tonight was a little different than our normal thing," Post 757 coach Tom Barr said. "We're in pool play (of the Jadwin Memorial Tournament) right now so it's nice to start the weekend off with a win. The top four are the only ones that get to advance to Sunday. That's only a third of the teams competing. So it's good to start off on the right foot."

Post 757's JD Blevins (2-1) was knocked around a bit in the first inning. After dodging a couple bullets, the southpaw calmed down and threw gas the rest of the way. Blevins picked up the win in 6 1/3 innings of work, allowing just two hits and fanning 13.

"JD was a stud tonight," Barr said. "He started slow, but part of that was because of being out of rhythm a bit. But he stepped up after. I talked to him, and JD is his biggest critic. The first thing he commented about was his six walks. So he knows we can't have that. But he continued to battle and got the win."

The Riverbats (3-5) took a 1-0 lead in the first when Carson Stauffer stole home after reaching on a catcher's interference call.

That slight edge would last until the fifth, when Smith knocked in Corey Righman and Trenton Harris with a single up the middle, giving the Colts a 2-1 lead. Smith later scored on a Riverbats fielding error to extend the advantage to 3-1.

In the sixth, 757 got a leadoff hit from Anthony Sipple, who proceeded to swipe second base with no outs. Blevins followed with a single of his own to plate Sipple and make it a 4-1 ballgame. With Blevins standing on second after a stolen base, Bo Dratwa drew a two-out walk to set the stage for Harris.

On the first pitch he saw, Harris lined a ball into the left-center field gap for a bases-clearing triple, making it 6-1.

"Trenton is doing really well, and he's doing a really nice job at shortstop as well," Barr said. "He's just getting better and better and better. I've had him lower in the lineup, kind of treating him as a second leadoff guy. That's a nice thing to have."

Post 62 scored its second and final run in the top of the seventh after Blevins exited the ballgame. Stauffer crossed home plate on an RBI single off the bat of Gage Jones to round out the 6-2 final.

Jones finished 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Stauffer was 0-for-2 with two runs. Jeff Webb took the loss on the mound, throwing five innings, giving up five runs — just two earned — on eight hits and striking out one.

For 757, Harris led the offense with a 3-for-3 outing, including a triple, a run and a pair of RBIs. Cody Hendershot was 2-for-3; Smith was 1-for-4 with a run and two RBIs; and Blevins was 1-for-3 with a run, two stolen bags and an RBI.

Read 12088 times Last modified on Friday, 17 June 2016 04:43