By ALEX AGUEROS
(SEDALIA, Mo., digitalBURG) – It was a sloppy finish for a team capping off an otherwise competitive tournament, a game that saw more errors than runs for Post 131. But after 10 innings, the Warrensburg Isotopes walked off with third place in the Sedalia-Warrensburg tournament this Sunday after edging Quincy Post 37 by a score of 6-5.
Brett Marr started the game pitching for Warrensburg, and quickly realized how ugly the game would become when atrocious Quincy base running ended an inning where Warrensburg allowed three hits and committed two errors. A double play started by right fielder Brad Cox picking off a runner at second after a single, ended by nabbing another Quincy runner breaking for home. Warrensburg survived the first inning allowing only two runs.
The Isotopes posted two runs in the second inning after the back end of the lineup, Bo Mackey and Brad Cox, reached base for a string of singles from the top of the Isotope lineup. Brett Marr’s RBI single capped off the inning, tying the game at two.
An inning with a Marr and Cox base hit helped illustrate a development head coach Jim Sales looks for each season – contributions from seniors and sophomores alike.
“I depend on my older guys, but I keep telling them the younger guys have to step up some point during the season,” Sales said, “Today was one of those days.”
Brett Marr would allow three more runs before finishing out the sixth inning with Warrensburg trailing 5-2.
With a shot at third place on the line, the bottom third of the lineup provided three consecutive singles and a run. Dylan Riley skied a two-out double into right-center field to tie the game at five, and sent the game into extra innings.
Riley took over pitching privileges in the seventh inning, and retired seven straight Quincy batters, a streak ended by a single in the ninth inning. Despite the team’s seventh error of the game, Riley left the inning with no runs to his name. Jordan Carr survived a shaky inning in the 10th, facing six batters and issuing two walks. Warrensburg entered the bottom of the 10th tied 5-5.
Catcher Jon Siegfried led off the inning with a single and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt from Jordan Carr. With one out and Alex St. Pierre courtesy running for Siegfried, Brad Cox stepped up to the plate for Warrensburg. His single to deep left field would be enough for St. Pierre, and the team walked off with a 6-5 win, along with third place.
“I was just getting in the box looking for a hit,” Cox said about his at bat. “I was looking for a hit to move him over to give the next guy a chance.”
The win, sloppy as it was, marked an important step in development for the Warrensburg American Legion team.
“There were some mistakes made early, but the guys didn’t hang their head,” Sales said. “We know what we’re made of and now it’s a matter of us getting the job done.”
Post 131 have a wood-bat tournament and three district double-headers approaching before the district tournament, including the team’s final home matchup Thursday evening at 6 p.m. The team set their goal early, and according to coach Sales, they’re well on their way to reaching it.
“We’re at a halfway point in the season and it’s downhill from now,” Sales said. “Our goal is to get a district title out of this.”