Post 117 sweeps DL in Legion twin bill

by Scott DCamp Sports Editor Thief River Falls Post 117 swept Detroit Lakes Post 15 in a Senior American Legion doubleheader Wednesday night (June 19) at the Multi-Events Center in Thief River Falls by scores of 5-4 and 8-1. Post 117 appeared to be in cruise control behind a strong start from Jaxon Hams in game one. The hard-throwing righty was given a two-run cushion to work with the Prowlers scoring single runs in the second and third innings. In the second, Bridger Wilcox reached on an error, went from first to third on a one-out single by Landon Wikert and scored when the throw to third got past DL third baseman Kael McArthur. Wikert would be stranded at third, with Wade Nelson striking out for the second out of the inning and Gannon Zutz flying out to right to retire the side. Post 117 added to its lead in the third. Cooper Lawrence reached on an error to lead off the inning and he advanced to second on the same error. Cole Johnson laid down a sacrifice bunt for the first out, with Lawrence moving to third on the play, and Lawrence would score from third on a one-out single up the middle by Noah Gonzales. Gonzales would advance to second with Bodhi Mossestad reaching on an error and Gonzales would attempt to score from second on a single to left by Wilcox. Detroit Lakes left fielder Cody Bartness fired a throw to catcher Brock Swiers, who tagged out Gonzales in a bang-bang play at the plate. Hams navigated a bases loaded jam in the first, retired the side in order in the second and third inning, allowed a hit in the fourth and went three-up, three down in the fifth. Hams was at 86 pitches going into the sixth. He surrendered a seven-pitch walk to Chaz Eckhoff to lead off the inning and a double to Noah Rieber, before striking out Will Martin. Martin would be Hams’ final batter. He exited with the lead but was responsible for both Eckhoff and Martin, who were on third and second, respectively. Both batters would score as relief pitcher Gannon Zutz surrendered singles to Connor Beswick and McArthur to tie the game 2-2. Beswick would later score on a wild pitch to give Post 15 an improbable 3-2 advantage. Post 15 added a run on two hits in the top of the seventh to take a 4-2 lead. Post 115 began its rally with a one-out walk by Mossestad. Wilcox singled to center, with Mossestad and Wilcox moving to third and second, respectively, on the throw. Jameson Hurst drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases. Pinch hitter Ryan Flaagan singled to left to score Mossestad from third, with Wilcox and Hurst each moving up a bag. Logan Kriel was brought in to pinch run for Flaagan, and Wade Nelson came to the plate with the bases loaded, one out and his team trailing 4-3. Nelson took the first four pitches of the at-bat and had a 3-1 count for pitch number five. He swung at the next pitch and drove the ball up the middle with Wilcox scoring the game-tying run and Hurst beating the throw to the plate for the game-winner. Post 117 took control early in game two and this time they didn’t let up in an 8-1 triumph. Post 117 scored four runs on two hits in the bottom of the second and it answered Post 15’s lone score in the top of the sixth with four more runs on two hits in the bottom of the sixth. Hams led Post 117 in hits with two and runs bated in with five on the day. Also recording hits were Wilcox, Hurst and Zutz, with Hurst (2) and Zutz adding RBIs. Cooper Lawrence, Hams, Gonzales, Hurst, Kriel, Nelson and Zutz (2) scored runs for Post 117. Mossestad got the start and went five and two-thirds innings. He allowed one run on four hits, with 10 strikeouts and three walks to earn the win for Post 117. Dylan Osowski pitched the final inning and a third in a non-save situation. He walked two batters, struck out one and did not allow a hit in his one and a third innings scoreless innings of work. Game 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E DL........ 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 - 4 8 7 TRF...... 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 - 5 9 0 Batting DL Post 15 AB R H RBI BB SO E. Rieber 2B 3 1 1 0 1 0 C. Eckhoff CF, P 2 1 1 0 2 0 N. Rieber SS 3 1 1 0 1 0 W. Martin 1B 3 0 0 0 1 3 C. Beswick P, 3B 4 1 2 2 0 2 K. McArthur 3B, LF 4 0 2 1 0 0 A. Spect RF 4 0 1 0 0 0 C. Bartness LF, CF 3 0 0 0 0 0 B. Swiers C 3 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 29 4 8 3 5 13 Highlights - 2B: N. Rieber; SB: N. Rieber; E: K. McArthur 2, C. Bartness 2, N. Rieber, C. Beswick, A. Spect. TRF Post 117 AB R H RBI BB SO J. Hams P, 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 C. Lawrence DH 4 1 0 0 0 0 C. Johnson 3B, SS 4 0 0 0 0 1 N. Gonzales C 4 0 2 1 0 1 B. Mossestad RF 3 1 0 0 1 0 B. Wilcox CF 4 2 2 0 0 1 J. Hurst LF 1 1 0 0 3 0 L. Wikert 2B 3 0 1 0 0 0 R. Flaagan 1 0 1 0 0 0 L. Kriel 0 0 0 0 0 0 W. Nelson 1B 4 0 1 2 0 0 G. Zutz 3 0 2 0 0 0 Totals 31 5 9 4 4 6 Highlights - SB: N. Gonzales, J. Hurst. Pitching DL Post 15 IP H R ER BB SO C. Beswick 6.0 6 2 0 2 5 C. Eckhoff - L 0.1 3 3 3 2 1 TRF Post 117 IP H R ER BB SO J. Hams 5.1 3 2 2 3 8 G. Zutz 1.2 5 2 2 2 5 Game 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E DL........ 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 1 4 4 TRF...... 0 4 0 0 0 4 0 - 8 5 3 Batting DL Post 15 AB R H RBI BB SO E. Rieber 2B 4 0 0 0 0 1 C. Eckhoff DH 3 0 0 0 1 1 N. Rieber SS 3 0 2 0 1 0 W. Martin 1B 3 0 0 0 1 3 C. Beswick C 4 0 0 0 0 1 K. McArthur 3B 2 1 1 0 1 0 C. Bartness LF 2 0 1 0 1 1 H. Peeters RF 3 0 0 1 0 2 B. Swiers CF 2 0 0 0 0 1 M. Erickson CF 1 0 0 0 0 1 Totals 27 1 4 1 5 11 Highlights - CS: N. Rieber; E: K. McArthur 2, E. Rieber, N. Rieber. TRF Post 117 AB R H RBI BB SO C. Lawrence RF, CF 3 1 0 0 0 1 J. Hams 3B 3 1 2 5 0 0 N. Gonzales C 3 1 0 0 1 0 R. Flaagan DH 3 0 0 0 0 2 B. Wilcox 2 0 1 0 0 0 C. Nelson RF 1 0 0 0 1 1 J. Hurst LF 4 1 1 2 0 0 L. Kriel 2B 3 1 0 0 1 1 W. Nelson 1B 2 1 0 0 0 1 G. Zutz SS 2 2 1 1 1 0 Totals 26 8 5 8 4 6 Highlights - 2B: J. Hams 2; HBP: J. Hams, W. Nelson, C. Lawrence; SB: C. Lawrence; E: J. Hurst, J. Hams, L. Kriel. Pitching DL Post 15 IP H R ER BB SO L. Adams - L 5.1 3 6 2 2 6 K. McAurther 0.2 2 2 2 2 0 TRF Post 117 IP H R ER BB SO B. Mossestad - W 5.2 4 1 1 3 10 D. Osowski 1.1 0 0 0 2 1