Sedalia pinch runner Drake Keele dislodged the ball from the mitt of Jefferson City’s catcher with a desperation leap, scoring the go-ahead run in a 3-2 victory Sunday, June 25 to claim the Sedalia Junior Legion Wood Bat Tournament at Liberty Park Stadium in Sedalia.
Keele tagged late on a sixth-inning Easton Webb fly to right field, requiring an off-the-script vault into home plate. In flight, Keele’s cleat brushed the mitt of Gavin Stricklan, and the ball dropped like a laid egg.
“(Keele) made an initial mistake, but hustle paid off,” said Sedalia head coach Brent Hodge. “He put the pressure on them.”
Webb drove home Braiden Ballard — who reached on a triple — in the second inning. His RBI single through the right side tied the game at one.
Kyler Simoncic allowed two runs on seven hits in a complete-game performance. He delivered 89 pitches and issued no walks.
Colin Polley bookended the contest throwing out a pair of Jefferson City Post 5ers. His first-inning shot glanced off Brody Kindle’s glove and landed in Brett Grupe’s, who applied the tag in rhythm. Polley recorded the penultimate out, catching Jason Binkley on the basepaths.
Hodge said Polley is improving — in all aspects of the position — at an impressive pace.
“He’s worked his tail off,” Hodge said. “He’s almost a different catcher. We had the Smith-Cotton baseball camp a couple weeks ago, and he came in with the attitude that he was going to get better … It just happened to correspond with some of our games. He could work at camp and carry that over into a game, and he did.
“Right now, he’s developing into a very good catcher.”
Brayden McGinnis, who led off the fourth with a double, scored on a wild pitch to give Sedalia a 2-1 advantage. A throwing error in the sixth allowed Jefferson City to tie.
A theme throughout the wood bat tournament, Hodge commended his lineup for moving leadoff runners.
“We got our leadoff guy on and made stuff happen,” Hodge said. “It’s execution.”
Rock Bridge Southside defeated Fulton, 3-2, to claim third place.
TOURNAMENT SCOREBOARD
Friday
Sedalia 3, Rock Bridge 0
Rock Bridge 12, Oak Grove 1
Blue Springs Fike 9, Oak Grove 1
Chillicothe 7, Blue Springs Elks 4
Jefferson City 9, Fulton 7
Jefferson City 9, Chillicothe 2
Saturday
Sedalia 17, Oak Grove 3
Blue Springs Elks 3, Fulton 1
Jefferson City 9, Blue Springs Elks 1
Fulton 6, Chillicothe 0
Rock Bridge 8, Blue Springs Fike 0
Sedalia 8, Blue Springs Fike 3
Sunday
Blue Springs Elks 5, Oak Grove 4 (Seventh place)
Blue Springs Fike 13, Chillicothe 3 (Fifth place)
Rock Bridge 3, Fulton 2 (Third place)
Sedalia 3, Jefferson City 2 (First place)
