Highland Post 439 ends season with loss to Centralia in Fifth Division Tournament

Extra inning magic helped Highland Post 439 stay alive in the 5th Division Tournament on Saturday, July 24, in Centralia against Alton.

However, poor defense and quiet bats doomed Highland later in the evening as Post 439 had its run in the tournament stopped by a 7-4 losers bracket final loss to Centralia after defeating Alton 9-8 in extra innings in the losers bracket quarterfinal.

“It’s tough to play in 90-degree heat like these kids did yesterday and out there (in Centralia) there’s no breeze and you’re stuck outside in the heat and humidity and it got to us a little bit,” Carriger said. “The kids battled all day long, and unfortunately, we came up short.”

In the loser’s bracket quarterfinal against Alton, Highland came out rolling early, thanks to a four-run surge in the bottom of the first. Post 439 tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the second frame to make it 6-0.

“Our offense was there (against Alton), and we were good. As a coach, my mindset is I want to score every inning, and that Alton game we scored every inning,” Carriger said.

Alton, playing Highland for the sixth time this season, did not go away though. Down six runs, Post 126 scored three times in the top of the sixth and four times in the top of the seventh to go ahead 8-7.

“We always play each other close and I told (Alton coach) Doug Booten something is going to happen,” Carriger said. “Sure enough, we left the ball over the plate a little bit too much and they hit the ball out and hit the ball around a little bit.’

Thankfully for Highland, Christian Kassay saved the day. Kassay, who made a habit of ending opposing teams’ runs this summer, dashed Alton’s hopes for another tournament game in the bottom of the eighth inning, ripping a line drive into the sun in left field that Post 126’s outfielder lost in the sunlight and booted. That error chased home the winning run for Highland and into the loser’s bracket final.

“Christian Kassay, he’s done that a couple of times now where he’s ended some people’s runs there,” Carriger said.

Catcher John Walker paced Highland’s hitting, going 3-for-5 at the plate.

Post 439 locks horns with Centralia

Highland then faced Centralia 30 minutes after the Alton win and a combination of heat, fatigue, and untimely fielding errors did in Post 439. Centralia eliminated them from the tournament and one win short of facing top seed Harrisburg in the championship game Sunday, July 25.

“We started off really well and I was anxious to see how they would do with the heat. The first couple of innings was nice because our offense was going and making hard contact,” Carriger said.

“What really got to us was our defense. The field was hard and we had trouble with ground balls that were going really high on a really hard concrete-like infield. By the time they would get down where a kid would get them, their runners would be on base.”

Post 439 takes early lead, but Centralia rallies

Highland led 2-0 early but Centralia took advantage of two Post 439 errors in the bottom of the third to score four runs.

Post 439 cut the lead to 4-3 with a run in the top of the fourth, but Centralia added a run in the bottom of the fourth, one in the bottom of the fifth, and one in the bottom of the sixth and held Highland to a run in the top of the seventh to end Post 439’s Fifth Division Tournament run and 2021 season.

“After being out there in the heat and fatigue for two innings they (Centralia) showed up and they were ready to play. On our side, we threw the ball around a little bit and the kids were tired,” Carriger said.

Chad Barker went 2-for-3 and Alex Head was 3-for-4 to pace the Highland offense.

Highland still enjoys strong tournament, season

Highland finished its five-day stay in the Fifth Division Tournament with a 4-2 slate.

Although they came up a bit short in the postseason, Carriger was more than pleased with the team’s performance as they finished the campaign at 15-6.

“We competed every week — every game even down to that last Centralia game. And going up against that team, you want the win as bad as anybody does and I felt pretty confident that we could compete against Harrisburg if we could get past Centralia,” Carriger said. “I was very blessed with a good group of kids that never gave up.”

Highland defeats Alton in opener

Things did not start well for Highland Post 439 in the opening game of the Fifth Division Tournament. But they ended well.

Thanks to a sixth inning eruption by the Post 439 bats and a strong relief outing from lefty Michael Feldt, Highland overcame a 5-0 deficit and posted a 14-8 win over Alton Post 126 on Tuesday, July 20, at Glik Park in Highland.

“We kicked the ball around a little bit and didn’t play our best defense but the boys were able to battle back with their bats,” Carriger said.

Alton struck first with a five-run surge in the top of the third against Highland starer Brayden Ramsey. Blaine Lancaster reached on an error to plate Post 126’s first run and Preston Schepers capped the rally with an RBI-sacrifice fly to give Alton a 5-0 lead.

Highland broke through against Post 126 starter Brady Salzman in the bottom of the sixth inning. Post 439 exploded for 10 runs in the frame as Aiden Duft and Josh Prusa keyed the outburst with a two-run single and a bases clearing triple, respectively.

Prusa scored on a John Walker RBI-single to close out the sixth inning.

Meanwhile, Feldt, who relieved Ramsey in the third inning, was stout the rest of the way, allowing just three runs in relief to pick up the win.

This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 9:19 AM.