Wayne Newton Post 346 fought off a challenge from a tired John E. Heyen Post 501 team Friday night at Terre Haute North to move the host team into the quarterfinals of the John Hayes Best of the Midwest Tournament in American Legion baseball Saturday with a 3-0 record.
But West Terre Haute, which lost 7-2 in Saturday’s nightcap, earned some respect with its 0-2-1 finish, playing Post 346 in the second of two consecutive games — on two different fields — with the first of those games a nine-inning, 1-1 tie against defending Kentucky state champion Owensboro.
Saturday’s quarterfinal games, at 5 and 7:30 p.m., will be played at Terre Haute North and Terre Haute South, but the complete pairings won’t be finalized until three remaining pool-play games are played at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Post 501 is almost certain to play one of the three consolation games, two of them at noon and the last at 2:30 p.m., although that tie and the team’s run prevention will work in its favor for seeding purposes.
West pitcher Garrett Porter got off to a shaky start in Friday’s last game, hitting five of the first 11 batters he faced. He was still one pitch away from escaping all that trouble, however, when Levi Weidenbenner slapped a two-out, two-strike, two-run double down the left-field line in the bottom of the first inning.
Austin Black’s first of three hits didn’t leave the infield, but Weidenbenner hustled all the way home from second base and it was 3-0.
West Terre Haute scored its first run in the top of the fourth on singles by Alan Ramirez, Zach Rogers and Peyton Powers. Prior to Powers’ RBI single, however, Post 346 right fielder Isaak Osborne had thrown out a runner trying to score on Rogers’ hit.
Post 501 came even closer in the fifth when Jayce Noblitt led off with a double and scored on a two-out single by Ramirez, his third hit of the game.
But Post 346 answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning and aggressive baserunning was the key again. Ty Stultz was at first base with two out when Levi Weidenbenner tapped an infield hit. Stultz went from first to third and scored on an overthrow. Weidenbenner went to second on the error and Black’s third hit made it 5-2.
West Terre Haute got two runners on base in the sixth and left them there, and things got ugly in the bottom of the inning. A hit batter and a disputed one-out bunt single by Brady Weidenbenner preceded a two-run single by Riley Huckaby, and before that half-inning could be completed the umpires called the game because of the time limit that would have prevented the seventh inning from being played.
The time limit also ended West Terre Haute’s first game Saturday, which included seven innings of two-hit, shutout baseball by pitcher Colton Enyeart.
Post 501 finally broke the scoreless tie on an RBI single by Reese Wilbur in the top of the ninth, but an unearned run enabled Owensboro to tie the game in the bottom of the inning.
Princeton Post 25 is another 3-0 team heading into Saturday play and apparently the top seed. Wayne Newton Post 346 will be the second seed and play at 7:30 p.m. at Terre Haute North.
The three defending state champions in the field — Owensboro, Washington (Mo.) and Lafayette — are a combined 2-4-1 so far, with Lafayette also playing a morning game.
WEST TERRE HAUTE (AB-R-H-RBI) — Noblitt ss 4-1-1-0, Enyeart dh 3-0-1-0, Poter p-lf 0-0-0-0, Dailey lf-c 3-0-0-0, Ramirez 3b 3-0-3-1, Wilbur c-lf-p 3-1-0-0, Rogers 1b 1-0-1-0, Johnson rf 3-0-0-0, Powers 2b 2-0-1-1, Cobb cf 3-0-0-0. Totals 25-2-7-2.
WAYNE NEWTON (AB-R-H-RBI) — B.Weidenbenner cf 3-2-1-0, Huckaby 2b 3-0-2-2, Stultz ss 3-1-0-0, Olson dh 2-1-0-0, L.Weidenbenner lf 3-2-2-2, Black c 3-0-3-2, Stepp 1b 2-0-0-0, Pierce 3b 1-1-0-0, Osborne rf 3-0-1-0. Totals 23-7-9-6.
West Terre Haute 000 110 — 2
Wayne Newton 300 022 — 7
Game ended with two outs in bottom of 7th.
E — Porter, Stultz. LOB — WTH 6, WN 6. 2B — L.Weidenbenner, Noblitt. SB — B.Weidenbenner, Black, Huckaby. CS — Black.
West TH IP H R ER BB SO
Porter 5 7 6 5 1 1
Wilbur 0.2 2 1 1 0 1
Wayne Newton IP H R ER BB SO
Millington (W) 5 7 2 1 2 8
Jenkins (Sv) 1 0 0 0 1 2
Millington pitched to 1 batter in 6th. Porter pitched to 1 batter in 6th.
HBP — by Porter (B.Weidenbenner), by Porter (Olson), by Porter (Stepp), by Porter (Pierce), by Porter (Huckaby), by Porter (Pierce). PB — Wilbur. T — 2:09.
