St. C. legion one win away from state tourney
ZANESVILLE — St. Clairsville is one win away from advancing to the American Legion baseball state tournament after a pair of weekend victories in the Region 8 Tournament at Gant Stadium.
Post 159, now 19-6, run-ruled Cambridge Post 84 Sunday by a 15-5 count in a game stopped after four-and-a-half innings in the winner’s bracket final. On Saturday, it outlasted Beverly/Lowell, 2-1, in 9 innings.
A victory at 5 Monday would send St. Clairsville to Lancaster’s Beavers Field next week. It plays the winner of Sunday’s loser’s bracket game between Cambridge and Beverly/Lowell. That victor has to beat Post 159 twice. Should a deciding game be necessary, it would be played at Tuesday at 6.
St. Clairsville 15, Cambridge 5 (Sunday)
Braylon Blomquist drove in five runs with two singles and a double to spark a 12-hit attack. Treston Nemeth doubled twice and singled to produce three runs, while Zach Vickers had a two-run single. Hunter Hoffman doubled in a run. Jake Heatherington and Drew Sefsick had run-scoring base hits.
Lucas Heatherington picked up the mound win with three innings of work. He didn’t strike out a batter and walked three. Tyler Stottlemyer fanned one and issued two free passes in his two innings.
St. Clairsville 2, Beverly/Lowell 1, 9 inn. (Saturday)
Blomquist’s single in the bottom of the ninth lifted Post 159.
Ayden Ludolph doubled before Blomquist singled up the middle.
Nemeth earned the mound win in relief with two-plus innings of work. He struck out two and walked none. Jake Heatherington pitched into the seventh before his pitch-count ran out at 101 (27 strikes). The righty fanned 10, walked one and gave up four hits.
Beverly/Lowell tied the game in the top of the seventh.
Peyton Blue belted a solo homer in the bottom of the second for Post 159. Nemeth had a pair of singles and Blue added a base hit.