Jackson Jr. Legion wins at regional tournament

~ Post 158 debuted at the tourney with a 12-5 win over South Dakota

A five-run third inning propelled the Jackson Junior Legion Post 158 baseball team to a win in the opening game of its first regional tournament appearance Thursday in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Post 158 (35-7) beat South Dakota 12-5 to advance to today's winner's bracket semifinals.

"To put up five in that inning was big," Post 158 coach Shelby Kight said. "But the other team put up a fight all the way through. The game felt closer than it was all the way to the end, that's for sure."

Post 158 trailed 4-3 in the third, but a double by Tyler Slinkard scored Ben Maudie and Garret Reynolds to put the Jackson squad ahead 5-4.

"That was really a good at-bat for him in that spot," Kight said about Slinkard. "He had a two-strike count on him, choked up on the bat and really found a way to put it in a gap and give us a lead."

Slinkard went 2 for 3 with a single.

Two batters later, Ryan Mize doubled to score Slinkard for a 6-4 lead.

Back-to-back singles plated two more runs in the inning.

The four-run cushion was plenty for starting pitcher Zach Elfrink, who surrendered just one more run in the fourth inning on his way to the complete-game win.

Elfrink struck out one, walked one and gave up five hits and five earned runs.

Kight said it wasn't Elfrink's best performance, but he got some help from the rest of the team.

"I wouldn't say he was as dominant as he has been, but he found a way to groove it out," Kight said. "He definitely got better as the game went on, and our defense was strong behind him."

Post 158's defense, which was shaky in a pair of losses in the Zone 4 tournament, did not commit an error Thursday. Post 158 advanced out of the zone by virtue of being the host team, then went on to win the state championship.

"They made some really solid plays," Kight said about the defense in Thursday's game. "I'm glad that we continued to focus on that part of our game, but even happier that our players took it on themselves to get better."

Reynolds drove in two runs with his only hit of the day, a two-out single in the fifth to make it 10-5.

In the sixth, Mize added a two-run home run to finish with three RBIs.

Post 158 will play the host Kansas team at 2 p.m. today.

"We're ready for them and really any team," Kight said. "They're a good team. We will just be looking to play our style and hope for a really good matchup."

South Dakota 013 100 0 -- 5 5 2

Jackson 215 022 x -- 12 9 0

WP -- Zach Elfrink. HR -- Ryan Mize. 3B -- Ben Maudie. 2B -- Tyler Slinkard, Mize, Maudie. Multilpe hitters -- Slinkard 2-3, Mize 2-4, Maudie 2-3.