GREENVILLE – The Metro East Bears American Legion baseball team battled back from 8-0 down through five-and-a-half innings against Danville in the final of the Greenville Wood Bat Tournament at Greenville College Sunday afternoon.
The Bears went 3-2 over the weekend and stand at 7-3 on the season going into a 6 p.m. home game today against East St. Louis at Alton High School's Redbird Field. They opened the tournament Friday with a 9-0 win over Mattoon as Storm Coffman got the win in five innings, then got past Decatur 7-6 in their second game of the day, both played at Greenville College.
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Metro East finished group play with an 8-6 Saturday loss to host Greenville to move into the semifinals, defeating Oneida (Ill.) 13-0 to advance to Sunday's final.
Danville scored once in the first, twice in the third, once in the fourth and four times in the sixth to seemingly put the Bears away, but Metro East rallied with four of their own in the bottom of the sixth and, after the defending state Legion champions added one in the seventh, scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to make it close.
Corey Price went 1-for 4 with a homer and four RBIs for the Bears on the day, with Cole Hansel going 2-for-4, Blake Vandiver 1-for-3 with a RBI, Coffman 1-for-4 and Chance Foss 1-for-3 in the final. Devin Colley went five innings and struck out one in taking the loss.
Following tonight's game against East St. Louis, the Bears will host Valmeyer at 8 p.m. Tuesday and Smithton at 8 p.m. Wednesday, both at Roy Lee Field at SIU-Edwardsville before heading to Highland for an 8 p.m. Thursday game; the Bears will be in a wood-bat tournament this coming weekend in Festus, Mo., taking on Charleston at 6 p.m. Friday and Danville at 7:30 p.m. Friday, then Jefferson County, Mo., at 2:30 p.m. Saturday; the final is set for June 18.
JUNIOR LEGIONNAIRES WIN IN BREESE: Alton American Legion Post 126's junior team won the Breese Tournament over the weekend for the first time since 2004, defeating Salem 12-3 in Sunday's final.
The nine-team tournament included two teams each from Highland and Breese, Teutopolis, Belleville, Valmeyer and Salem in addition to the junior Legionnaires.
Post 126 went undefeated in the tournament, scoring wins over Carlyle (10-1), Valmeyer (14-1) and Breese Grey (5-2) prior to the final; Highland defeated Alton (5-4) to finish group play. Rylee Bernot, Griffin Bianco, Adam Stilts and Bryce Parrish each had wins on the mound over the weekend. Alton's record is 10-3 on the year; the juniors meet up with Smithton at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Valmeyer at 6 p.m. Wednesday, both games at SIU-Edwardsville, before taking on Highland 1 on the road at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Following that, Post 126 hosts Eureka, Mo., at 6 p.m. Friday at Alton High's Redbird Field and take on Jerseyville in a 1 p.m. Saturday doubleheader at Redbird Field to close out the week.
