Sullivan, Earney Shutout Wentzville 8-0

Joshua Earney carried the Post 18 freshmen to a 3-0 victory June 11 against Wentzville, striking out 12 batters and allowing just two hits.

Earney pitched around four walks as Sullivan stayed unbeaten in the Ninth District standings. It also was the third straight shutout.

Post 18 had just six hits. They cashed in early on a leadoff triple by Garrett Juergens, who scored on a ground out by Collin Immekus.

Sullivan scored with two outs in the second when Carter Dace walked and Alec Bell singled to center. An error allowed Dace to cross the plate and move Bell up to second.

The offenses were mostly quiet from there.

Earney walked a batter in each of the first innings, but overpowered Wentzville. He retired five straight batters from the second through third innings, striking out three.

Wentzville threatened in the fourth. A leadoff walk and single to center put two runners on, but Earney again powered up. He struck out the side to end the inning.

Post 323 got their second and final hit of the game to start the fifth, but were again unable to do anything against Earney. He got a strikeout and a pop out to first before a fly ball brought the inning to a halt.

Sullivan's bats struggled to bust open the game. They put runners in scoring position in the fourth, but were unable to score. In the sixth, they put two more runners on base with no outs, but Wentzville got through it without any damage.

Post 18 finally added another insurance run for Earney in the seventh. Joshua Wiese led off with a double and Earney moved him to third on a groundout. Jacob Brooks lined a single into center to score Wiese and give Sullivan a 3-0 lead.

After getting the first out of the seventh inning, Cooper Sellers took over for Earney. He walked two of the first three batters he faced, bringing up the tying run with two outs. A groundout to Brooks ended the game and sealed another shutout win.