Sullivan Scratches Out 5-1 Win Over Hannibal

Sullivan and Hannibal combined for just five hits Wednesday in the first game of the American Legion freshmen state tournament, but thanks to nine walks and four errors by Hannibal, Sullivan came out on top.

Post 18 won 5-1 and continue on in the pursuit of a state championship. Four pitchers combined to limit Hannibal to just a pair of hits.

Sullivan's hurlers issued seven walks, but limited the damage with runners on.

Joshua Earney pitched around a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, which brought the tying run to the plate. He was able to get two strikeouts before giving way to Trevor Abernathy. Abernathy got a pop-up to right to end the threat.

Garrett Juergens started and went 2-2/3 innings. He threw 45 pitches and because of American Legion baseball's pitch count rules, is not allowed to pitch Thursday.

The pitch count rules wipe out all of Sullivan's starters for Thursday. Joshua Wiese relieved Juergens and went 2-1/3 innings. Earney went two-thirds of an inning and Abernathy closed the door with 1-1/3 innings.

Sullivan jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning without ever getting the ball out of the infield. Juergens and Wiese led off with walks. Abernathy drew a one-out walk to load the bases. Collin Immekus reached on an error at first, allowing Juergens to score and keeping the bases jammed.

Wiese scored on a wild pitch with Carter Dace batting.

Post 18 added three more runs in the third. Abernathy singled to start, followed by walks to Immekus and Dace. Abernathy scored on a wild pitch to give Sullivan a 3-0 lead.

Blayten Nolie drew a walk to load the bases again. Another wild pitch scored Immekus, then Braden Carey's infield single scored Dace to put Sullivan ahead 5-0.

Hannibal got on the board in the fourth. They put two on with two walks. An error at shortstop by Earney worked out in Sullivan's favor, as Earney threw out a runner at home. With two outs, Hannibal got a RBI single to make it 5-1. Wiese hit the next batter, but got out of the inning on a line out to left.

Wiese worked a scoreless fifth. After issuing a leadoff walk, he got out of the inning on a 4-6-3 double play.

After Hannibal missed their opportunity to cut into Sullivan's lead in the sixth, Abernathy shut the door in the seventh. He pitched around a one-out walk and fell behind 3-0 to the next batter before settling down for the next two outs.