MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. - The Alton Post 126 American Legion junior baseball team won its first game of the season on Monday night, going out to a 7-2 lead after two innings in the first game of a doubleheader, winning 11-4 at Maryland Heights, Mo., in northwest St. Louis County, but dropped the nightcap 11-3 in four-and-a-half innings.
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The Junior Legionnaires are showing improvement game-by-game, and Alton manager Doug Booten is very encouraged by what he's seeing. and was also happy to get the club's first win under its belts.
"It's a good feeling," Booten said. "I'm happy for them."
It's a very young team, and Booten is seeing the club's improvement as things go along.
"They are improving," Booten said. "We're seeing things (Monday) night that we didn't see two weeks ago, and we're also seeing things baseball-wise that we didn't see two weeks ago. They're getting better. Things are encouraging a little bit."
In the first game, Alton scored all their runs in the first four innings, getting four in the first, three in the second, one in the third and three more runs in the fourth inning. Maryland Heights countered with two runs in the second, and could only come up with single tallies in the fourth and sixth innings as Alton went on to the win.
Seth Slayden led the way for Alton by going three-for-four in the opener, while Ashton Schepers was two-for-four with an RBI, and Nick Kelsay was two-for-three with an RBI. Also getting hits for the Junior Legionnaires were Julian Marshall, Luke Parmentier, James Stendeback, Andrew Wieneke, Graham McAfoos, Miles Windmiller and Nick Rayfield. Lucas Moore, Parmentier, Windmiller and Kelsay also drove home runs for Alton.
Wieneke pitched four strong innings to get the win, allowing three runs on two hits, while walking three and striking out seven. Tyler Robinson pitched in the fifth, striking out one batter, while Jackson Kenney shut down Maryland Heights in the sixth to gain Alton's first win of the season.
The second game was far different, as Maryland Heights scored seven times in the first and two more in the second to jump to a 9-0 lead before a single Alton run in the fourth cut the lead to 9-1. Two more Maryland Heights runs scored in the bottom of the inning before Alton scored twice more in the fifth before the game was called after four-and-a-half innings.
All of Alton's runs were scored without benefit of a base hit, with Wieneke and Garrett Billingsley getting the RBIs in the nightcap. Schepers only lasted an inning on the mound, allowing five runs, three of them earned, and four hits while walking two and fanning two others. Jon Webb threw a one-third-of-an-inning, walking four, while Slayden pitched the final two-and-two-thirds, allowing two runs on two hits while walking only one and striking out five.
The Junior Legionnaires are now 1-3 on the season and next play at Warrenton, Mo, as part of a junior-senior doubleheader. The junior team will play at 1 p.m., while the seniors play at 3 p.m. Booten will continue to keep things simple for his young junior team.
"On Saturday, we're just looking for more improvement," Booten said. "I'm feeling optimistic about a lot of things for the kids."
