SPRINGFIELD — The Jefferson City American Legion Post 5 Seniors went 1-1 in Saturday’s action of the Springfield Series at Kickapoo High School.
Jefferson City opened the day by rallying for a 4-3 win against Kickapoo Baseball Club, then dropped a 5-3 decision to the Missouri Bulls to finish 2-1 in the pool-play portion of the six-team event.
Jefferson City trailed 3-0 after four innings against Kickapoo. The rally began with two outs in the top of the fifth inning, when Kris Haley drew a four-pitch walk and Ethan Edwards followed with a double to center field, scoring Haley for the Post 5 Seniors’ first run.
In the sixth, Brady Kemna hit a one-out single, moved to second base on a passed ball, stole third and scored on Drew Hart’s sacrifice fly to right field, cutting Kickapoo’s lead to 3-2.
Down to its final out in the top of the seventh, Edwards kept the game going for Jefferson City with a single to right field. Colten Scheulen reached base on an error, then Bryce Wieberg hit an 0-1 pitch to left field for a double, scoring courtesy runner Haley for the tying run and Scheulen for the go-ahead run to put the Post 5 Seniors in front 4-3.
Edwards pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh inning to secure the one-run win.
Edwards threw a complete game, striking out eight batters and walking two in seven innings. He threw 68 of his 105 pitches for strikes.
Wieberg, Edwards and Kemna each had two hits for Jefferson City, while Blake Wobbe added a single for the team’s remaining hit.
In Game 2 against the Missouri Bulls, Wieberg scored on a wild pitch in the second inning for Jefferson City, tying the score at 1.
The Post 5 Seniors took the lead in the fourth inning when Hart hit a two-out single to left field, scoring Edwards.
The Bulls retook the lead in the following inning with a two-run home run, part of a four-run fifth inning.
Jefferson City closed the gap to 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out single by Scheulen, which scored Luke Bauridl.
The Post 5 Seniors brought the winning run to the plate in the seventh inning, but the Bulls escaped the jam with a double play and a strikeout to end the game.
Haley, Wieberg and Kemna also had one hit each for Jefferson City.
Wieberg pitched 4⅔ innings, giving up five runs on eight hits with five walks and eight strikeouts. Bauridl threw 2⅓ innings of scoreless relief, striking out one batter.
The Post 5 Seniors (17-5-1) will play today in bracket play — a five-team, single-elimination tournament — to wrap up the Springfield Series. They face the Wichita Falcons in the semifinals at 11:10 a.m. at Kickapoo.