Jackson turns in sharp outing, rolls to 13-6 win

An American Legion baseball season that began with high hopes for Jackson has included considerable disappointment so far.

But after Monday night's 13-6 victory over visiting Calvert City, Ky., at Legion Field, Jackson head coach Mark Lewis believes his team just might be ready to take off.

Jackson, coming off Saturday's 5-0 triumph over Manchester to end the Paducah (Ky.) Tournament, owns a two-game winning streak and has climbed back to the .500 mark at 12-12.

"I don't think we've played well most of the year, but the last two games we have played well, and that's a good sign," Lewis said. "Regardless of wins and losses, we need to start playing well, and hopefully we'll continue what we've done the last two games."

Like Lewis, Jason Meystedt -- a Southeast Missouri State signee who had four hits Monday, including three doubles -- believes Jackson is headed in the right direction.

"We hadn't been playing that well, but today we played a good all-around game," Meystedt said. "We know we've got a good team, and hopefully we'll get a streak going."

Jackson was solid on most fronts Monday, getting loud hitting, strong defense and solid pitching.

Among Jackson's 14 hits, eight went for extra bases, including two home runs, a triple and five doubles. Jackson also committed no errors while turning three double plays, and three pitchers combined to beat Calvert City (7-11).

"I thought we had a really good game tonight," Lewis said.

Brandon Gendron homered, doubled and drove in four runs, while Derek Biri had a home run among his two hits. Also getting two hits was Rex Meyr, who tripled and doubled on his way to a pair of RBIs.

Zack Ayers, making his first start of the season, was the winning pitcher. He allowed nine hits and five runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Tony Longman and Gendron then shut down the visitors after they used a three-run sixth to knock out Ayers and close within 11-5.

Longman gave up just one hit and one run in 2 1/3 innings, while Gendron retired all four batters he faced to close out the victory.

"I thought for his first start, Ayers did a good job, and Longman and Gendron were strong in relief," Lewis said. "Offensively, we started swinging the bats well Saturday, and that carried over into today. We're starting to see good things."

Leadoff batter Biri ripped the first pitch of the night from Calvert City starter Tyler Hunter over the left-field fence in the bottom of the first inning to put Jackson on top 1-0.

Although Calvert City went ahead 2-1 in the second, Jackson came right back to grab a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the frame. The host squad then broke things wide open with an eight-run fourth that featured seven hits, including a two-run homer by Gendron and a two-run triple by Meyr.

After Calvert City made things somewhat interesting by pulling within 11-6 in the eighth, Gendron's two-run double in the bottom of the inning rounded out the scoring.

"We hit well most of the night," Meystedt said.

Tyler O'Daniel had three of Calvert City's 10 hits.

Jackson, 1-2 in District 14 play, visits Twin Rivers Wednesday for a 5 p.m. district game, then hosts Scott County at 6 p.m. Thursday in a district contest.