Highland Post 439 legion team captures 2nd place at Alton Firecracker Tournament
Whenever the Highland Post 439 Legion baseball team scores seven or more runs these days, good things happen.
Post 439 kept the good times rolling Saturday, July 3.
Highland erased a two-run deficit with a four-run third inning and then closed out the day with a four-run sixth inning to dispatch Alton Post 126 in its third and final game of pool play of the Alton Firecracker Tournament at Moody Park in Fairview Heights.
The win, which was Post 439’s third in two days after beating Ballwin (7-5) and Washington (7-2), moved them into the championship game on Sunday, July 4, where they ultimately lost to Alton.
“We were hitting the ball straight on the nail today, and you can’t ask for a better offensive performance from the team,” Highland manager Trent Carriger said. “We know how to get runners into scoring position. That’s what really does it for us ... we get runners into scoring position, guys go up in big spots, get a ground ball to score a run and that’s how we get 14 runs.”
On July 3, Alton went ahead 1-0 in the top of the second inning on a bases load walk from Highland starter Garrett Hodous. Highland answered with three runs in the bottom of the second as Josh Prusa’s RBI groundout helped key the rally.
Post 126 responded in the third with four runs to chase Hodous. A bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly to center by Ted Webb gave Alton a 5-3 margin.
Then, in the bottom of the third, Highland got the bats cracking. Clayton Mallard, who had three hits on the day, doubled home a run to make it 5-4. Hudson Wiegman singled home Mallard with two out and then Prusa came up big with a run-scoring single to make it 6-5.
“I was looking for a good pitch to hit and something I could drive out of the infield and get a run across, two runs across,” Prusa said. “After they started chirping a little bit something (got burning) inside of us so we kept fighting and we kept pushing, and we finally broke through, and we had that massive inning.”
Prusa later scored to cap the four-run surge, making it 7-5.
Highland broke the game wide open in the bottom of the fourth with a six-run outburst. Mallard keyed the rally with a two-run single. Alex Head singled home Mallard and Grant Cox singled home a run, pushing the lead to 11-5.
Post 439 added three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. That was more than enough cushion for lefty reliever Michael Feldt to finish off Alton. Feldt, who relieved Hodous in the third inning, pitched 4 2/3 innings of shutdown relief for the win.
“Michael Feldt, he’s just the glue that’s kept us together today,” Carriger said. “You come in with bases loaded and no outs and go pop-up, pop-up, strikeout, and there’ no fear (with him). He goes right after guys and he’s the guy I’m going to go to now in these situations.”
Highland falls in championship
On Sunday, July 4, Post 439 had hard-throwing righthander Christian Kassey start on the bump against Alton in the championship game.
Alton advanced to the tournament title game by defeating Washington to take a 2-0-1 slate into the championship after beating Ballwin, tying Trenton, and splitting two games Saturday, July 3.
Kassey came out firing pitches and competing but the Post 439 bats were cooled off by Alton starter Brady Salzman as Post 126 got payback and defeated Highland 10-7 for the tourney crown.
“Christian’s got velocity that’s unmatched and he pairs that with that little slider and curveball. It just didn’t go our way,” Carriger said.
Both teams scored a run in the second inning, and Highland led 2-1 after plating a run in the third. However, Alton broke the game open with a big six-run fourth inning before adding three more tallies in the fifth to take a 10-2 edge.
“The fourth inning is really where it went their way,” Carriger said. “We made a lot of errors and threw the ball around, and that gave them a lot of runs. They scored about four runs on passed balls.”
Late rally falls short
Highland scored five in the top in the seventh, but Alton relievers Blaine Lancaster and Brendan Smith shut the door.
“We kind of got away from ourselves a little bit and we lost our identity in the (batter’s) box and got really anxious. We never really got a chance to settle in and do any damage until the seventh, and, by that point, our backs were a little bit too far up against the wall,” Carriger said.
Highland (8-4) returns to action at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 7, with a District 22 league matchup against Alton at Gordon Moore Park in Alton.
This story was originally published July 6, 2021 at 12:54 PM.