By Ryan Storz

St. Clair Post 347 made a memorable run through the Ninth District Senior Legion Tournament last week, which included victories over Elsberry, St. Charles, Washington, Troy and Daniel Boone.
And they could not have done it without two former Sullivan Eagles on the roster.
Zach Mesey, a 2009 graduate at SHS and a former pitching standout, started two games in the tournament and Jake Durham, a 2010 graduate, started in a stunning victory over Washington in St. Clair’s second tournament game.
Overall, Post 347 went 5-2 and with a former Post 18 coach, Gary Durham at the helm.
Elsberry
Mesey started St. Clair’s first-round game against Elsberry. He threw only two innings and allowed one run.
Other starters helped piggyback St. Clair to a 9-7 win, where the team rallied in the final inning.
Durham collected two hits and was hit by a pitch.
Washington
The biggest victory of them all came against Washington Post 218.
St. Clair stunned the tournament’s top team with a 12-8 win.
Durham and Mesey combined to hold Washington back.
Durham started and went four innings, allowing five runs on seven hits with four walks and three strikeouts.
At the plate, Durham had one hit, a walk and an RBI.
Coach Durham told the Washington Missourian that Jake has had to fight through three bad discs in his back.
Mesey finished Washington off with five innings. He allowed three runs, four hits, five walks and five strikeouts.
Troy
Neither Mesey or Durham saw action on the mound in a 10-0 victory over Troy to keep St. Clair’s tournament going.
But Mesey had a big game at the plate, picking up two hits, a walk, a run and an RBI. One of his two hits was a double.
Durham walked and scored a run.
The win followed a 3-2 loss to Daniel Boone a day earlier that sent St. Clair to the loser’s bracket.
St. Charles
St. Clair knocked off another top seed.
With Mesey and Durham again making big contributions at the plate, St. Clair stunned second-seeded St. Charles 7-3 to advance to the tournament semifinals.
Mesey had three hits and two RBIs, while Durham had one hit and two RBIs.
Durham’s two-run single in the first inning got Post 347 out to a 4-0 lead.
St. Clair cruised from there, winning on the arm of former Steelville pitcher, Jake Becker.
Daniel Boone
In a rematch, St. Clair got the best of Daniel Boone, with Mesey leading the way.
He threw all nine innings in a 7-2 victory and took a no-hitter into the eighth inning.
Mesey allowed two runs, three hits, five walks and he struck out 10.
Durham contributed two hits and two RBIs.
The game had started on July 20, but was suspended until July 22.
The win sent St. Clair to the championship game against West.
West
Neither Mesey or Durham were a factor in the 6-0 loss to third-seeded West.
St. Clair had just one hit in the game.
West advanced to this past weekend’s Zone 1 Tournament in Washington.
Information for this article was compiled by reports from the Washington Missourian.