Home again, home again

It had been nearly a month since Pittsburg Post 64 had played a game on its home field, JayCee Ballpark.

With the Pittsburg Legion/Fort Scott Community College Classic running on schedule Friday afternoon, Post 64 played a game lasting 3 hours, 50 minutes against Tulsa Tide Black — created by a weather delay of nearly 2 hours.

Joe Wimmer relieved Christian Cedeno as play resumed with a 3-2 count against Tulsa Tide Black starting pitcher and leadoff man Dalton Barnes in the bottom of the third. On his first pitch of the game, Wimmer struck out Barnes and then retired Caleb Baca on a fly out — two outs in two pitches. Wimmer induced another pop out for a perfect 1-2-3 inning and then came the big hit.

With a 1-1 score, Sam Gilbert led off the fourth with the go-ahead solo home run to right center, sparking Post 64 to a 9-5 win over Tulsa Tide Black.

“Today it started with our pitching,” Post 64 head coach Mike Watt said. “I thought our pitching was very good and I don’t know how many hits we gave up but we didn’t give up many. I thought we pitched well and played really good defense. If you can do that, you’re going to win games and then we had a few people come up with big hits.”

Gilbert went 1-for-3 . . . however, that one hit was arguably the biggest of the game. Cody Grilz went 3-for-4 with a double, two singles and one RBI. Blake Vail singled home a run and Wimmer drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Post 64 scored a pair of runs on bases-loaded walks, as well as two more runs on a two-base throwing error by Tulsa Tide Black.

“Sam Gilbert had the big home run and it kind of jumpstarted us after the rain delay,” Watt said. “Cody Grilz had three hits today and again, it was a good team effort.”

Both teams picked different routes on the mound post-rain delay. Watt brought in Wimmer and Tulsa Tide Black coach Shawn Thornbrue stuck with starter Dalton Barnes. Barnes waited even longer than the Post 64 pitcher to make his first pitch and Post 64 scored three runs in that pivotal top of the fourth against Barnes.

“Christian had thrown 40-some pitches and then having to sit for that long and then have to try to get loose and come back, it probably wouldn’t have been great for him,” Watt said. “Some kids can bounce back better than others. We felt that Christian probably sat too long and we wanted to come back with a fresh arm. Joe came in and did very well.”

Cedeno reached his pitch count mostly by walking four batters in the second.

Defensively, first baseman Grilz and center fielder Nate Grimaldi helped out Post 64 with multiple solid defensive plays. Grilz made a nice sliding catch in foul territory and Grimaldi showcased his range in center.

Ironically, Tulsa Tide Black left nine runners on base and Post 64 five.

The game started out with typical summer afternoon temperatures. By the second inning, temperatures dropped several degrees and leaves blew in front of the JayCee Ballpark stands like tumbleweeds on the Texas Panhandle. Then, came the lightning spotted in the area and the players were sent to their respective dugouts. Wimmer threw his first pitch at 3:53 p.m. The game started at approximately 1:30 p.m.

Post 64 9, Lee’s Summit Lakers 0:
Cody Grilz showed his fortitude at the plate against Tulsa Tide Black and he did the same on the mound Friday night against the Lakers of Lee’s Summit. Grilz allowed no runs on two hits and he struck out seven over five innings.

Sam Gilbert, who did not a home run all his senior year at St. Mary’s Colgan High School, blasted his second solo homer of the day, giving Post 64 a 6-0 lead in the second inning after plating five in the first.

Christian Cedeno hit a RBI double and Brett Macary, Matt Standlee, Nate George and Bryan Wade each collected RBI singles for a balanced Post 64 offensive attack.
Post 64 (23-9) plays KC Express today at 3:45 p.m.

Pittsburg Legion/Fort Scott Community College Classic
Pittsburg Post 64 9, Tulsa Tide Black 5
PITT    010 323 0 — 9 6 1
TTB    010 103 0 — 5 4 2
Christian Cedeno, Joe Wimmer (3) and Dylan Gromer. Dalton Barnes, Garett Moffit (5), Colin Hays (6) and Jake Golden. WP: Wimmer. LP: Barnes. 2B: Cody Grilz, Nate Grimaldi. HR: Sam Gilbert. SF: Matt Standlee, Wimmer. SH: Gromer, Brett Macary; Jerry Jones, Caleb Baca. CS: Blake Vail. HBP: Cedeno, Vail, Grimaldi; Austin Stevens. LOB: PITT 5, TTB 9.

Post 64 9, Lee’s Summit Lakers 0 (5 innings)
PITT    511 02 — 9 10 1
LSL    000 00 — 0  2  2
Cody Grilz and Bryan Wade. Corey James, Corey Rothicher (5) and Michael Goodson. WP: Grilz. LP: James. 2B: Christian Cedeno. HR: Sam Gilbert. SB: Nate George 2, Bryce Burdette, Brett Macary, Gilbert, Matt Standlee, Joe Wimmer. CS: Wade, Nate Grimaldi; Trevor Brittian. HBP: Zack Bartlette. LOB: PITT 1, LSL 3.

Pittsburg Legion/Fort Scott Community College Classic schedule
Today
Cass County Cats vs. Valley Center Renegades, 9 a.m.
Cass County Cats vs. Tulsa Tide Blue, 11:15 a.m.
Valley Center Renegades vs. Lee’s Summit Lakers, 1:30 p.m.
Post 64 vs. KC Express, 3:45 p.m.
Tulsa Tide Blue vs. Lawrence Raiders, 6 p.m.
Tulsa Tide Blue vs. Natural Baseball, 8:15 p.m.
Sunday
KC Express vs. Tulsa Tide Blue, 9 a.m.
Tulsa Tide Black vs. Lawrence Raiders, 11:15 a.m.
Valley Center Renegades vs. Tulsa Tide Blue, 1:30 p.m.
Valley Center Renegades vs. Natural Baseball, 3:45 p.m.
Cass County Cats vs. Lee’s Summit Lakers, 6 p.m.
Cass County Cats vs. Post 64, 8:15 p.m.