Freshmen Legion Bash Rosebud
SULLIVAN -- The Post 18 freshmen notched their most dominant victory of the season Thursday in a 13-1 thrashing of Rosebud Post 587.
Sullivan scored eight runs in the fourth inning to set up a win via mercy rule. Thirteen batters went to the plate and Rosebud assisted Sullivan’s scoring with two errors.
Alex Branson started and went four innings, striking out eight of the 16 batters he faced. He allowed three hits, one walk and a run.
Tyler Juergens finished off Rosebud with a perfect fifth inning. He struck out two.
Tyler Lewis had three hits, including a double and two runs scored. Jacob Brooks had a pair of hits and drove in two.
Sam Turilli, Cy Cape, Dalton Payne, Charlie Lohden, Justin Lowe and Breyer Summers all recorder hits, with Summers providing a pinch-hit double.
Post 18 scored in the first without having to get the ball out of the infield. Summers, who was sent in as a courtesy runner for Branson, stole second, went to third on a balk and scored when Lewis reached safely on an error at second.
Lohden opened the second with a similar sequence, reaching on a ground ball error and stealing second. He took third on a passed ball and scored when Lowe singled up the middle for a 2-0 lead. Garren Parks replaced Lowe on the bases and stole second. He moved up to third on a groundout by Kaden Bouse, then scored on a wild pitch with Turilli batting.
Turilli walked and stole second. He scored on a base hit by Brooks to give Post 18 a 4-0 lead.
Rosebud scored in the third on a wild pitch and had runners in scoring position, but Branson got a strikeout to strand the runners.
Lewis led off the bottom of the third with a single to right. Payne walked and Lohden singled to left to score Lewis, putting Post 18 up 5-1.
Turilli had a single to start the fourth. He stole second and scored on a base hit by Brooks. Branson walked and Lewis’ double to right scored Brooks for a 7-1 lead. Payne drove in two with a single to left. With two outs, Lowe walked to extend the inning to Summers. Summers hit a double that scored Payne.
The lineup turned back over to Turilli and Brooks, who both reached on run-scoring errors to put Post 18 up 12-1. Cape drilled a single to push Sullivan’s lead to 13-1. Lewis followed with his third hit, but the inning ended one batter later.