Stallions Score Early and Often in Rout of Johnny Mac

The St. Louis Stallions have been the top team in the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association for most of the summer.

It didn't take long to see why as leadoff hitter Tim Livingston hit the first pitch from Johnny Mac pitcher Evan Cahn to left field for a double.

That was a sign of things to come as the Stallions, who lead the league with a 10-3 mark, had two four-run and two five-run innings en route to a 20-7 victory in the varsity contest Saturday at Mehlville High School.

"This was a game which we needed," Stallions coach Scott Seddon said. "We had lost three games in a row. Two were by one run and one came on a balk in the seventh inning. It is not that we had been playing badly. We just didn't have anything to show for it."

The Stallions had won their pool in the Metro East Fourth of July Tournament before losing 5-4 to Highland, the tournament's eventual champion, in the quarterfinals. That began the three-game losing streak which was broken in a big way Saturday.

Dan Seddon led the way for the Stallions as he came within a few feet of hitting for the rare cycle (single, double, triple and home run).

Seddon had a two-run double in a five-run first inning. He added an RBI single in a four-run second inning and then had a three-run triple in a four-run third inning.

Seddon needed a home run for the cycle and hit the ball long enough on his next at bat in the fifth. But it curved foul.

It was about the only thing which went wrong for the Stallions, who will play in the post-season in the Pastime World Series in Indianapolis.

The Thunder had some good moments offensively as they were able to extend the game for the full seven innings.

They trailed 13-3 after three innings but scored three in the fourth and one in the fifth to make it a game at 13-7.

Sean Kennedy and Mitch Bartola had doubles in the third inning and Danny Hartmann, Kurt McGuire and Matt Wallis had hits in the three-run fourth.

McGuire, who had two hits, two runs scored and two RBI, had an RBI double in the fifth inning which knocked out Stallion starter Alex Parker.

But Johnny Mac would not have another runner the rest of the game while the Stallions scored twice in the sixth and five times in the seventh.

Livingston had three doubles, Brandon Sugar had three hits and Brad Chapman had two hits, including a home run for the Stallions.

Thunder leadoff hitter Kevin Hennessy reached base on all four of his at-bats.

"It is a good sign that we hit the ball so well today," Thunder coach Steve Braun said. "We have hit the ball well the last week and that is a positive. We still need work on our defense and pitching, though."