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PITTSBURG —
Taking a look at the Pittsburg Post 64 roster before the first day of the Pittsburg American Legion Wood Bat Tournament, quality pitching depth seemed to be the biggest team strength.
It turned out that way on Thursday night as Post 64 completed an undefeated day in Pool A play with a 5-4 win over Kansas City Ward.
“I thought the pitching in both games was good,” Post 64 manager Mike Watt said. “I thought all our pitchers threw well. They were all a little rusty today. None of them were as sharp as I’ve seen them. But again, they haven’t thrown for a week and when you have that transfer from high school ball to summer ball, there’s just a little different mentality and we’ll get everything ironed out and worked out and I think when we get all our ducks in a row, we’re going to be pretty good.”
Post 64 took a 4-0 lead on Kansas City Ward, highlighted by a three-run rally in the top of the third. With one down, Bryce Burdette reached on an infield single but was caught stealing for the second out. Sam Gilbert and Matt Standlee reached on back-to-back infield singles and KC Ward starter Evan Brull walked Cody Grilz to load the bases. Courtesy runner Nate Grimaldi scored on a wild pitch and Brull walked Blake Vail to reload the bases. That’s when Nate George came through with a two-RBI single, plating Standlee and Grilz and giving Post 64 starter Sam Gilbert a cushion.
Gilbert left the game after four innings and he struck out Zack Kolenda, Nick Wilson and Jared Paulakovich swinging in the fourth.
KC Ward tied it up in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs on two hits and one error against Post 64 reliever Grilz. That error proved costly, as Andrew Schneider made his way home for a tie score on a bad throw. Grilz struck out the side in the fifth.
Post 64 went back ahead in the next half-inning, sparked by the speed of Grimaldi. Grimaldi reached on a walk and did the rest himself for the game-winning run. He stole second and ran the next 180 feet on wild pitches thrown by KC Ward reliever Chris Ledesma.
Grilz continued his strikeout groove in the sixth, fanning Ledesma, Jordan Jones and Brull 1-2-3.
Post 64 brought in Joe Wimmer for the save and KC Ward placed runners on first and second after back-to-back hits from Bryan Barnhart and Cole Henley. Wimmer settled down, reared back and struck out Schneider, Jesus Martinez and Kolenda for the save and Post 64 sweep on Thursday. Gilbert, Grilz and Wimmer accounted for the final 12 outs with strikeouts.
Taking a look at the Pittsburg Post 64 roster before the first day of the Pittsburg American Legion Wood Bat Tournament, quality pitching depth seemed to be the biggest team strength.
It turned out that way on Thursday night as Post 64 completed an undefeated day in Pool A play with a 5-4 win over Kansas City Ward.
“I thought the pitching in both games was good,” Post 64 manager Mike Watt said. “I thought all our pitchers threw well. They were all a little rusty today. None of them were as sharp as I’ve seen them. But again, they haven’t thrown for a week and when you have that transfer from high school ball to summer ball, there’s just a little different mentality and we’ll get everything ironed out and worked out and I think when we get all our ducks in a row, we’re going to be pretty good.”
Post 64 took a 4-0 lead on Kansas City Ward, highlighted by a three-run rally in the top of the third. With one down, Bryce Burdette reached on an infield single but was caught stealing for the second out. Sam Gilbert and Matt Standlee reached on back-to-back infield singles and KC Ward starter Evan Brull walked Cody Grilz to load the bases. Courtesy runner Nate Grimaldi scored on a wild pitch and Brull walked Blake Vail to reload the bases. That’s when Nate George came through with a two-RBI single, plating Standlee and Grilz and giving Post 64 starter Sam Gilbert a cushion.
Gilbert left the game after four innings and he struck out Zack Kolenda, Nick Wilson and Jared Paulakovich swinging in the fourth.
KC Ward tied it up in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs on two hits and one error against Post 64 reliever Grilz. That error proved costly, as Andrew Schneider made his way home for a tie score on a bad throw. Grilz struck out the side in the fifth.
Post 64 went back ahead in the next half-inning, sparked by the speed of Grimaldi. Grimaldi reached on a walk and did the rest himself for the game-winning run. He stole second and ran the next 180 feet on wild pitches thrown by KC Ward reliever Chris Ledesma.
Grilz continued his strikeout groove in the sixth, fanning Ledesma, Jordan Jones and Brull 1-2-3.
Post 64 brought in Joe Wimmer for the save and KC Ward placed runners on first and second after back-to-back hits from Bryan Barnhart and Cole Henley. Wimmer settled down, reared back and struck out Schneider, Jesus Martinez and Kolenda for the save and Post 64 sweep on Thursday. Gilbert, Grilz and Wimmer accounted for the final 12 outs with strikeouts.
“When we have the lead, we’ve got to make sure that we’re throwing strikes and not giving them an opportunity to get the basehit to put them back in it,” Watt said. “Again, we’re a little bit rusty but I’ve got a lot of faith in them and I think they’ll turn around. A little nervous, some of them first time out for the Legion and playing two good teams. At the end of the day, we’re 2-0 and that’s what we want to do.”
Post 64 (2-0) waits until Saturday evening to play Springfield Kickapoo.
Pittsburg 10, Nevada 7
Post 64 took advantage of early opportunities, scoring 10 runs in the first two innings on just four hits. Nevada outhit Post 64 12-7 but left eight runners on base, at least one runner in all seven innings.
Fellow Post 64 speedsters Nate Grimaldi and Bryce Burdette reached base and scored in the first; Grimaldi led off with a single and Burdette walked against hard-throwing right-hander Colton Selvey. Grimaldi and Burdette each stole bases on the power pitcher in the first; Grimaldi scored on a wild pitch and Burdette on a sacrifice bunt from Sam Gilbert.
“There’s no doubt we’re pretty fast,” Watt said. “Any time you can run, you’re going to put a lot of pressure on the defense. I don’t know how many stolen bases we ended up with but we’re very quick and that’s going to be a big strength for us.”
Post 64 quickly loaded the bases with none out in the second inning, looking to answer the opponent's first run. Selvey walked Christian Cedeno and hit Nick Vacca with a pitch, then Dylan Gromer placed a perfect bunt up the first base line which gave him a bunt single as nobody covered first base. Joe Wimmer, hitting at the bottom of the order, looped a ball down the left field line, plating both Cedeno and Vacca. Gilbert later smacked a two-RBI single, plating both Grimaldi and Burdette. Standlee reached on a two-base error and scored on a Cedeno sacrifice fly. Post 64 scored 10 runs on Selvey.
Post 64, ahead 10-1 after two, helped its opponent get within three runs by committing four errors and not scoring a run after its eight-run outburst.
Pittsburg American Legion Wood Bat Tournament
Pittsburg 10, Nevada 7
NEV 012 030 1 — 7 12 3
PITT 280 000 X — 10 7 4
Colton Selvey, Cole Sanderson (2), Austin O'Neal (5) and Trevor Norbury. Blake Vail, Nick George (5) and Dylan Gromer, Bryan Wade (5). WP: Vail. LP: Selvey. 2B: Caleb Kauffman, Alex Payne 2. SB: Kauffman; Nate Grimaldi 2, Bryce Burdette, Christian Cedeno, Sam Gilbert, Cody Grilz. SH: Gilbert. CS: Lane Ketterman; Grilz. LOB: NEV 2, PITT 1.
Pittsburg 5, Kansas City Ward 4
PITT 003 101 0 — 5 9 2
KCW 000 040 0 — 4 5 1
Sam Gilbert, Cody Grilz (5), Joe Wimmer (7) and Bryan Wade, Dylan Gromer (4). Evan Brull, Chris Ledesma (5) and Jordan Jones. WP: Grilz. LP: Ledesma. SV: Wimmer. 2B: Grilz. SB: Nate Grimaldi 2, Wimmer, Blake Vail, Gilbert. CS: Bryce Burdette, Christian Cedeno. A: Andrew Schneider. LOB: PITT 9, KCW 5.
Kansas City Ward 4, Nevada 3
