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BY JIM WIENERS

BALLWIN-Florissant American Legion Post 444 Baseball enjoyed one of their best seasons, if not the best season, ever by winning 31 games while losing just five.

However Post 444 season ended too early with two losses in the double elimination District 10 Tournament at the Ballwin Athletic Association, on Red Loehr Field.

Florissant began the District 10 Tournament July 20 with a 12-2 win over Overland-based Thoman-Boothe Post 338. Two nights later, July 22 Post 444 lost 13-12 to Creve Coeur Post 397 and fell into the loser’s bracket.
While in the loser’s bracket Post 444 eliminated Eureka 17-7 on July 24 and eliminated the Post 177 team One night later, July 25, Ballwin Post 611 won 13-7 over Florissant and eliminated the Post 444 team.

Meanwhile Manchester Post 208, a team Post 444 defeated July 8 to secure the top seed in the District 10 Tournament, went 4-0 as the second seed, including two wins over Post 397, to win the District 10 Tourney. Post 208 heads to Jackson, Mo., to play in a Missouri Zone Tournament which begins Thursday.

In the win over Post 338 Florissant scored five runs in the second and fifth innings and the scheduled nine-inning game was called in the seventh due to the 10-run mercy rule. Cory Remspecher had a double and three runs batted in while C.J. Ingram and Cory Young each drove in two. Ingram, Young, Blake Timmerman and Ben Hendrix each scored twice while Zack Malawey struck out 12.

The loss to Creve Coeur was the first by Post 444 against a District 10 team and Florissant was 10-0 in District 10 play before the post-season tournament. Post 397 — thanks to three runs batted in from Andrew Cohen, Bobby Voss and Joey Hoffman — tied the game at 2-2 in the second, after Post 444 scored two in the first, then took the lead with three runs in the third, added four in the sixth, three in the eighth and sealed it with a run in the ninth. Post 444 managed to rally for nine runs in the final four innings including a three-run ninth but the tying run was left at third when the final out was made.

Malawey, Remspecher, Matt Goldstein and Tom Latimore, who struck out seven Post 397 batters, each scored two runs. Latimore and Malawey each hit a home run, Latimore and Goldstein each drove in three runs while Young and Tim Rupp each drove in two.

In the elimination of Eureka Florissant scored 14 runs in the first two innings including nine in the first while Eureka scored three times in the first and third innings. The game was called in the seventh, again a mercy rule. Malawey homered and drove in six runs, Goldstein drove in four, Timmerman drove in three, Young scored four runs, Rupp scored three and Hendrix, Remspecher and Zack Doyle each scored twice.

Post 444s season ended for the second year in a row by Ballwin on their home field. Post 611, who eliminated Post 444 last year in the finals on their way to the Zone Tournament, won this year in a loser’s bracket game but Ballwin’s season ended last Thursday with a loss to Creve Coeur.

Post 611 scored five runs in the second, added three in the sixth and two in the eighth. Brett Hendricks homered, scored three times and drove in two, Wes Dagestead, who scored twice, Monte Gibbs and Matt Thomas each drove in three while J.P. Bartmess scored twice.

Post 444 scored four runs in the seventh inning, Malawey, who struck out five Post 611 batters, and Timmerman each drove in two while Latimore and Rupp each scored twice
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