Post 346 loses game, player at American Legion state tournament

Jul. 22—Wayne Newton Post 346 will have to fight its way out of the elimination bracket to win the 2023 American Legion baseball state championship, and Saturday night's 6-3 loss to Rockport Post 254 was one that affected the Terre Haute team in two ways.

The loss on the diamond was an inconvenience but, as manager David Will told the team after the game, the format of the tournament's double-elimination bracket doesn't really add extra games to the quest.

Will also said prior to the tournament that Post 346 is not well equipped to handle more injuries, however, so Coy Edwards' arm injury late in the game will trim the roster to 12 available players for the rest of the tournament — Edwards joining Riley Huckaby on the disabled list of a 14-man squad.

Will and longtime Rockport manager Jim Haaff were both in trouble before the first inning ended Saturday because neither of their starting pitchers could throw strikes. Besides the obvious problem of runners reaching base as a result, the tournament's pitch-count rules meant that relief pitchers would be necessary for both teams, and that both pitchers would be unable to pitch again in the tournament.

"Kind of an ugly game," Will summarized afterward.

Wayne Newton took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a leadoff triple by Ben Kearns, three walks and two passed balls, although two runners were left stranded. "We showed better discipline at the plate," said Will, who had emphasized that part of the game in discussing his team prior to the tournament.

Post 346 returned the favor in the bottom of the first, however: three walks, a hit, a throwing error, a run-scoring wild pitch and the first of two successful first-and-third double steals by Rockport.

Three more walks and a hit by Bryson Carpenter put Post 346 back on top 3-2 in the top of the second, Cam Judson getting the RBI on a grounder, but this time the bases were left loaded. And Rockport pitcher Ashton Tiindle allowed just one more walk and one more hit the next three innings, getting through five frames before his 105-pitch limit ran out.

Wayne Newton's Caleb Stultz preserved that lead the next two innings, allowing just one walk and picking that runner off base. But in the bottom of the fourth, Rockport got two unearned runs as a result of two walks, two errors and another double steal. Three hits, the crucial one an RBI triple by Garrett Scamahorn, made it 6-3 in the fifth when Stultz ran out of pitches himself.

Edwards came on in relief and got out of that inning, and struck out two of the first three batters he faced in the sixth. Then he threw a pitch to Scamahorn and immediately threw his glove down and walked off the mound. Edwards was hugged by several of his teammates as he walked to the dugout.

"He had a previous injury, and he aggravated it tonight," Will said. "It might have ended his career."

"I think I probably re-tore my UCL [ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow]," Edwards said.

Stultz, Edwards and Linden Jenkins, who entered the game and struck out Scamahorn, combined to allow just four hits and struck out 12 in six innings. But . . .

"When you walk eight or nine batters, it puts pressure on your defense," Will said, "and we also made some mistakes defensively. We've been really good [at pitching and defense], but we didn't exhibit that today."

Rockport and Lafayette are the two remaining unbeaten teams, and they play each other in Sunday's third game. Prior to that, South Haven plays Kokomo and Post 346 plays Valparaiso in elimination games that will leave four teams going into Monday's action.

"We've got Valparaiso tomorrow, with Jax Cox on the mound," Will said. "We should be good to go, if we have a short memory."

WAYNE NEWTON POST 346 (AB-R-H-RBI) — Kearns cf 2-1-2-0, Carpenter lf 4-0-1-0, Judson 1b 3-1-0-1, Olsen c 2-0-0-0, Will ss 3-0-1-0, Stultz p 3-0-0-0, Nicoson 3b 1-0-0-0, Helton 2b 2-0-1-0, Edwards 3b-p 2-1-0-0, Jenkiins p 0-0-0-0, Osborne rf 3-0-0-0. Totals 25-3-5-1.

ROCKPORT POST 254 (AB-R-H-RBI) — Brown ss 3-1-0-0, Johnson cf 3-1-1-0, Bowling 1b 2-1-0-0, Scamahorn dh 4-1-1-1, Tingle p 0-0-0-0, Jennings p 0-0-0-0, Lyday c 1-1-1-0, Doem 2b 2-1-1-1, Kellems rf 2-0-0-0, Strahl lf 2-0-0-0, Markel 3b 3-0-0-0. Totals 22-6-4-2.

Wayne Newton Post 346 210 000 0 — 3

Rockport Post 254 200 220 x — 6

E — Stultz 2, Will. LOB — WN 9, Rockport 7. 3B — Kearns, Scamahorn. SB — Bowling, Brown, Doem 2, Kellems. CS — Johnson, Kearns.

Wayne Newton Post 346 IP H R ER BB SO

Stultz (L) 4.1 4 6 3 7 8

Edwards 1.1 0 0 0 2 3

Jenkins 0.1 0 0 0 0 1

Rockport Post 254 IP H R ER BB SO

Tindle (W) 5 3 3 2 7 5

Jennings (Sv) 2 2 0 0 1 3

WP — TIndle, Stultz 2, Edwards. PB — Lyday 2. T — 2:09.

Next — Wayne Newton Post 346 (17-12) plays Valparaiso Post 94 (16-13-1) at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Rockport Post 254 (15-8) plays Lafayette Post 11 (24-5) at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Friday scores

Lafayette 9, Valparaiso 0

Wayne Newton 10, South Bend Post 151 2

South Haven Post 502 def. Madison Post 9

Rockport 8, Kokomo Post 6 5

Saturday scores

Kokomo 6, South Bend 2, South Bend eliminated with 9-7 record

Valparaiso 7, Madison 2, Madison eliminated with 9-7 record

Lafayette 9, South Haven 5

Rockport 6, Wayne Newton 3