Defense falters in Jackson Senior Legion's loss at Zone 4 tournament

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- The Jackson Post 158 Senior Legion defense that had been spectacularly sure-handed and occasionally just spectacular throughout the postseason turned sour midway through the Zone 4 tournament winner's bracket final on Friday night.

The result was a vexing 9-7 loss to Manchester Post 208 at Wilson Rozier Ball Park in Farmington. The win means Manchester needs just one more victory in two tries to claim the tournament title while Jackson will have to sweep a pair of games on Saturday and win another on Sunday.

"We didn't play defense worth a hoot," Post 158 coach Mark Lewis said. "We just didn't play defense at all. We've played well, and right there we really didn't -- just leaking runs all game long with walks [and errors]. And I'm not trying to take anything away from them, they had some errors too, but just in critical spots, we just didn't make plays."

The game started off well for Jackson, which took an early lead for the second day in a row. Landon Mills and Ben Maudie singled home a run each and Ryan Harvey scored on a double steal to give Post 158 a 3-0 lead after the top of the first.

A leadoff walk followed by consecutive singles -- one a high chopper off the plate -- helped Manchester cut the lead to 3-2 after one.

Mills homered over the 370-feet marker in center field with one out in the third to make it 4-2.

"He left me a fastball up and it was right down the middle, so I just got on it," Mills said.

That score held until the trouble started in the bottom of the fifth for Jackson.

Two errors sandwiched around an ill-advised and unsuccessful attempt to throw out the lead runner on a bunt followed by a two-RBI double that chased Jackson starter Colten Webber knotted the score 4-4.

"He struggled with his command a little bit," Lewis said of Weber, who was forced to pitch deep into counts much of the night. "He was off and on. I don't think he felt comfortable out there. That just happens. He's been as good of a pitcher as we've had all year. I don't have any doubts in him. He just wasn't as sharp as he's been, but that happens. He'll come back the next time and be great."

Haden Clark, pitching for a third consecutive day, entered the game with runner on second and third with no outs and got a pair of strikeouts and a fielder's choice to get out the inning with no more damage done.

"I was trying to shut it down," Clark said. "I was just trying to throw good pitches, make sure I hit my location -- at least maybe get a ground ball, you know, get a double play."

Jackson retook the lead on Gavon Turner's RBI single in the top of the sixth, but an error on a flyball from the No. 9 hitter in the Manchester lineup to start the bottom of the inning and a couple hits allowed Post 208 to score twice and take a 6-5 lead it never gave up.

While each team committed four errors, Lewis said the cost of their miscues started to weigh on his players over time.

"Absolutely," he said. "They're out there, and they know they can play better. It wasn't a lack of effort. It wasn't that. I don't know how many [errors Manchester] had. I would say it was similar. It just seem like ours cost us more than it cost them in certain situations."

Manchester committed two of its errors in the top of the seventh and Jackson added a single, but Post 158 left the inning empty-handed and still down a run after a pick-off, a fielder's choice and a runner cut down trying to advance on an overthrow.

An infield error helped Manchester tack on a run in the seventh and Post 208 scored twice more in the eighth thanks to four consecutive hits.

Turner led off the ninth with a single and scored on a double by Harvey, who came home later on a wild pitch, but a pop out and flyout ended the Jackson rally and the game.

Post 158 will face the winner of Friday night's nightcap between Ballwin and Farmington at 4 p.m Saturday. The winner will take on Manchester in the first championship game at 7 p.m. A winner-take-all game will be played Sunday at 2 p.m., if necessary.

Jackson 301 001 002 -- 7 9 4

Manchester 200 022 12X -- 9 13 4

WP -- Chase Omlid. LP -- Hadon Clark. HR -- Landon Mills (J). 2B -- Ryan Harvey 2 (J), Justin Gallina (M). Multiple hits -- Jackson: Harvey 2-5, Mills 3-4, Gavon Turner 2-4; Manchester: Adam Dalton 3-5, Ray Adams 3-5, Gallina 3-5.