Ballwin ‘Powers’ Its Way Past Manchester

Through the first four innings of Tuesday evening’s Junior American Legion game at Ellisville Athletic Association, runs were pretty easy to come by.

Once the dust settled around home plate, it was Ballwin Post 611 that pounded out a 10-8 victory over Manchester Post 208.

All 18 runs were scored in the first four innings.

“Scoring runs, there were a few errors – it was kind of a long game that ended abruptly,” said Manchester manager Mike Siemers, who added that the initial scoring outburst may have been a result of the rivalry that exists between the two teams.

“Once you get down to it, it’s Manchester and Ballwin and kids were playing hard,” Siemers said. “Plus, it’s summer, and sometimes it’s tough to get their minds away from what their friends are doing and things of that nature.

“But once they settled down, it was good baseball.”

Post 208 dressed just 10 players, so when starting pitcher Jeff Jaudes surrendered six runs in the second inning, Siemers stuck with him. Jaudes pitched a complete game, giving up eight earned runs on 14 hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

“He hasn’t thrown a full game in two weeks, so I was going to let him go as long as he wanted to,” Siemers said. “It was more work to get better. I wasn’t too worried about the scorecard at the end of the day. Minus one inning, he threw well.”

Manchester (6-12) jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the first inning. Matt Rowe singled and later scored on Bobby’s Mudd’s two-out single. Mudd eventually scored on an error that would have ended the inning.

Ballwin cut the lead in half after Alec Neuman led off with a single and then scored on E.J. Myers’ RBI double. Despite three hits in the first inning, Post 611 scored just once as Jaudes struck out the side.

The second inning was a different story although Manchester scored three times in the top half of the inning. Austin Hagemann ripped a two-run double to plate Austin Laramie and Rowe. That was followed by an RBI double from Mudd that brought in Hagemann.

Trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the second, Ballwin (12-11) sent 10 batters to the plate during a six-run inning.

Josh Ranek got things started with a leadoff single. After a passed ball, he scored on Billy Clince’s RBI double. Jacob Bolstad then smacked a base hit to score Clince. Neuman reached on an error before Zach Ruckman’s single scored Bolstad. A two-run double from Dan Menees put Ballwin ahead and there were still no outs.

Drew Ellis capped the scoring with an RBI double that brought in Myers, who had reached on a fielder’s choice.

“I thought we adjusted to him pretty well after the first inning,” said Ranek, a Marquette junior who went 2-for-4. “We just got more confidence after that.”

Each Ballwin batter had at least one hit and either scored or knocked in a run.

“Usually we are a good first inning team and then we close the door down,” Ballwin manager Brian Moderhack said. “It was good to see us power around.”

Post 611 added to its lead with two more runs in the third. Following a walk and error to begin the inning, Neuman and Ruckman each knocked in a run.

Manchester responded in the fourth as Rowe, who went 2-for-5 and scored three times, and Hagemann led off with singles. Two batters later, Ryan Hodges belted a double to center field to score Rowe. Hagemann later scored on an error and a Michael Dawkins sacrifice fly brought in Hodges.

That was the end of the line for Ballwin starter Kyle Workman, who allowed just three earned runs off 11 hits over four innings with a pair of strikeouts and no walks. Moderhack turned to Ranek, who had been the designated hitter.

Ranek said he was a bit worried about how Manchester was swinging the bat when he entered the game to pitch, but had confidence that he could get the job done. In two innings, Ranek allowed just one hit with a strikeout and no walks.

Ryan Godlewski pitched the final inning to record Ballwin’s first save of the season.

The final run came in the bottom of the fourth when Steven Frank’s RBI single allowed Ellis to cross the plate.

“They’ve just got to play loose,” Moderhack said. “If we make this like work, they don’t like it. If we make it fun, they go out, do their job and have fun, everything comes pretty easy on the field.”

BALLWIN 10, MANCHESTER 8

Manchester    230 100 0 – 8 14 3

Ballwin            162 100 x 0 10 14 4

Manchester (6-12) – Laramie 2-5, SB; Rowe 2-5, SB; Hagemann 2-4, 2B, 2RBI; Mudd 2-4, 2B, 2RBI; Hodges 2-4, 2B, RBI; Dawkins 1-3, RBI; Diekman 1-3; Jaudes 1-1; Lasho 1-3. LP- Jaudes IP-6 H-14 R-10 ER-8 BB-1 K-4 WP-1.

Ballwin (12-11) – Neuman 2-4, RBI, SB; Ruckman 2-4, 2RBI; Menees 2-4, 2B, 2RBI; Myers 2-4, 2B, RBI; Ellis 2-4, 2B, RBI, 2SB; Frank 1-4, RBI; Ranek 2-4; Clince 1-2, 2B, RBI; Bolstad 1-3, 2SB. WP- Ranek IP-2 H-1 R-0 BB-0 K-1. Save-Godlewski IP-1 H-2 R-0 BB-0 K-1.