Post 18 Rolls Right Through Wentzville In No-Hitter Blowout
By Wyatt Hardy
On Thursday, Sullivan Post 18 AA delivered a stunning victory to Wentzville Post 323 16U with an impressive score of 5-1. Wentzville recorded no hits and struggled to make it to the bases. Running off success from their win against Washington, Sullivan kept rolling right through their competition with a playmaking offense and crushing defense.
Starting pitcher Dustin Lappe repeated the same success that he has had on the mound all season. His incredible performance included striking out six and forcing zero hits across four innings. Nate McReynolds came in as a relief pitcher for three innings, continuing the no-hitter shutdown against Wentzville. On offense, Alex Toews was great at the plate, going 2-for-4 for the highest number of hits on the team while Kaden Smith made a team-high of 2 runs.
The game started with Wentzville at bat, unable to get past Sullivan’s intimidating defense. Third baseman Anden Carey and shortstop Cambrian Koch both come in clutch for two pop outs. Then Dustin Lappe struck out Conner Dalton for the third out.
Sullivan stepped up to the plate and jumped to an early lead. Koch swung an explosive first hit and tripled on a blistering line drive. When Toews was at bat, Koch advanced to home plate on a wild pitch, tallying up the scoreboard, 1-0.
They continued their strong presence in the outfield, infield, the mound and at bat. In the bottom of the second, they brought up their score again. Toews singled on a pop fly to far center field. Wentzville tried to catch it, but Kaden Smith had already made his way home. Nothing seemed to be able to stop Sullivan, the inning ending 2-0.
But then Wentzville broke through and got their first run of the game when Hackworth scored off Dylan Holschen’s hard-hit ground ball. Lappe refused to let Wentzville go any further, holding down the mound. He forced back-to-back strikeouts and effectively ended their high. Wentzville trailed behind, 2-1.
In the bottom of the sixth, Sullivan’s offensive capabilities were again on full display. Bases were loaded and Smith got his chance to walk to first. Beckett, on third, seized the opportunity to run home. Carey then advanced to third and Jansen Loeb made it to second. Koch came up to bat and swung a ground ball. Wentzville’s outfielders struggled to catch up to the ball and Carey got the last run of the matchup. Sullivan dominated with a lead of 5-1.
Wentzville got one last chance to make a comeback against this powerful defense. But Sullivan shut them down quickly with three unanswered outs. Pitcher McReynolds struck out Collin McCorkle. Then center fielder Brennan Bouse gripped a fly ball for the second out. For the last play of the game, Beckett came in clutch and quickly snatched a ground ball as it flew right to his glove.
Sullivan secured a resounding 5-1 victory against Wentzville. The defense asserted their dominance all throughout this game with pitchers Lappe and McReynolds creating a no-hit blowout. It will further strengthen their confidence as they now have a winning record of 6-5.