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Jim Wieners Sports
American National 18U, 16U Baseball
Win SLABA Post-Season Tourneys
By Jim Wieners
Two American National Baseball Teams, 18 and under as well as 16 and under, won St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association post-season Tournaments played July 15-19.
American National 18U won a pair of best of three series over the Easton Stallions two games to one at Hazelwood Sports Complex and over the Jefferson County Blazers in a two-game sweep. The Eagles 16U defeated the Southside Dirtbags twice after defeating the seventh-seeded St. Charles Capitals – Maroon, 11-1 July 15 at Parkway West High School, and the third-seeded Blazers, 6-1 July 16 at Francis Howell Central High School.
American National 15 and under played in the consolation tournament, playing three Illinois teams. The Eagles lost 3-0 to eventual consolation champion Granite City, defeated Waterloo 7-5 and lost 13-3 to Waterloo – Orange. American National did not field a 17 and under team.
18U OVER STALLIONS IN THREE GAMES — American National was the number four seed in the SLABA 18U Tournament and had to go three games to defeat the top-seeded Easton Stallions. At Hazelwood Sports Complex the Eagles won 12-5 on July 15, lost 6-2 on July 16 and won 10-2 on July 17
In game one American National broke a 2-0 lead wide open with three runs in the fourth, four in the fifth and three in the seventh.. Joshua White hit three out of four times with three doubles, two stolen bases and three runs batted in, Hunter Martin hit four out of five times and scored three runs and Adam Goss walked three times and scored three runs. Alex Gutermuth was the winning pitcher striking out nine Stallions.
After losing game two the Eagles responded by opening game three with five runs to start the first inning and then added three more in the fifth. Matt Mellring scored twice and drove in two runs, Connor Burnett drove in two and Zachary Moravec scored twice. Martin was a complete-game winning pitcher with four strikeouts.
18U SWEEPS BLAZERS — It took just two games in the best of three series for American National to defeat the second-seeded Jefferson County Blazers. The Eagles won 2-1 in game one July 18 at St. John Vianney High School and wrapped up the tournament title July 19 with a 5-3 win in game two at Hazelwood Sports Complex.
In game one American National scored a run in the first, third and sixth innings, Mellring drove in two runs while Burnett was a complete-game winning pitcher allowing just a fourth-inning home run by the Blazers‘ Nick Politte. In game two the Eagles scored a pair of first inning runs after allowing the Blazers to score one but after Jefferson County scored a run in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 3-2 lead American National responded with a three-run sixth inning that proved to be the difference. Ethan Wallace won on both sides as a complete-game pitcher striking out six Blazers and scoring two runs while Martin drove in two.
16U DEFEATS DIRTBAGS TWICE — While winning the North Division title during the regular season American National was the number two seed in the double-elimination tournament After wins over the Capitals – Maroon and the Blazers the Eagles won the first of two games over the top-seeded Southside Dirtbags, 14-12 in a July 17 game at Parkway West.
After allowing the Dirtbags to score four runs in the bottom of the first the Eagles responded with a five-run top of the second. After the Dirtbags scored eight unanswered runs — two in the bottom of the second, three in the fourth and three in the fifth — the Eagles responded with a six-run sixth inning and added three insurance runs in the seventh. Josh Inman walked twice, scored twice and drove in three runs while Jared Breyer had three hits and scored three times.
The Dirtbags after rebounding with a 12-11 July 18 win over Waterloo, Ill., got a July 19 rematch with American National at C & H Park, St. Charles County, the Eagles won the rematch 5-2 and won the tournament. The Eagles scored two runs in the first, two more in the second and one in the third. Jimmy Boswell drove in two runs, Daniel Rinder scored twice and Kaleb Schneider struck out five as a complete-game winning pitcher.
