Hillsboro American Legion Post 129 baseball’s season ends at the district tournament in Chillicothe

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Hillsboro American Legion Post 129’s baseball team finished up their season this week in the district tournament. Post 129 lost both games of the tournament falling by a score of 7-6 on Monday against Chillicothe Post 757 and by a score of 6-5 on Tuesday against Chillicothe Post 62, both games were contested at Paints Stadium in Chillicothe.

Monday’s game saw Post 129 come out of the gates firing on all cylinders offensively as five of the first six batters reached base as Caleb West, Cayse Cameron, and David Poynter each recorded a single in the inning. Cameron also racked up two RBI with his single as West and Poynter both scored on the hit.

Timmy Crone was on the mound for Post 129 against Post 757, he continued his string of impressive starts in this one by not allowing a runner until the third inning and holding the opposition scoreless until the seventh inning.

After a quiet second inning for the boys from Hillsboro they found their bats again in the third inning as West got things started when he was hit by a pitch. Poynter followed up with a single to advance West into scoring position and place runners on first and second as Kelton Anderson made his way to the plate. Anderson continued to impress as he smashed a two RBI triple to score West and Poynter extending Post 129’s lead to 4-0. Drew Batson joined the fun two batters later when he lifted a sacrifice fly ball to the left fielder to score Anderson from third base.

The fourth inning for Post 129 got off to a good start as Crone led off with a single and stole second base before reaching third on a passed ball, however the following three batters were put out in order to end the inning.

The fifth inning got underway with Anderson registering a single to get things started for the hometown team. Cameron was next as he registered his third RBI and second hit of the night with a monster triple that scored Anderson from first and pushed the lead to 5-0.

After building a formidable 5-0 lead Post 129 saw the wheels fall off over the last four innings as they went scoreless from the sixth inning on. Along with the offensive collapse Post 129 also allowed Post 757 to put up two runs in the seventh, three in the eighth, and two more in the bottom of the ninth to secure the come from behind victory.

Needing a win to advance deeper into the tournament Post 129 took on Chillicothe Post 62 on Tuesday in a 10 inning thriller. Post 129 got the game started on the right foot when Timmy Crone led off the game with a single in the top of the first inning. Crone went on to score, after stealing second, on an RBI single by David Poynter.

Post 62 came out of the gates swinging as well as three of the first four batters reached base and scored in the inning to give the home team a 3-1 lead after one inning.

After a hot start both teams cooled off during the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings as pitchers for both teams kicked it into high gear and the defenses made the the plays necessary to keep each other off the board.

The top of the sixth inning got started for Post 129 with Caleb West registering a single before scoring a run on another single by Cayse Cameron bringing the score to 3-2 entering the bottom of the sixth inning.

The bottom of the eighth inning saw Post 62 add a run to their lead bringing the score to 4-2 going into the ninth inning.

The ninth inning was a wild affair that featured a total of four runs for both teams. The top of the ninth saw Post 129 drive in three runs as Payton Bell, Evan Brill, and Crone all scored in the inning to give the Hillsboro boys a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom of the inning.

Post 62 answered in the bottom of the inning as their lead off hitter reached base and scored to tie the game a five apiece and send the game into extra innings.

The tenth frame was heartbreak for Post 129 as they saw three players reach base. However it was not in the cards for the boys from Hillsboro as the lead runner was caught stealing and they left two runners stranded. The game came to a close in the bottom of the tenth when Post 62’s eight hole batter scored on a single by the lead off man.

Post 129 coach Scott Morgan reflected on the last two games of the season saying, “My kids competed like crazy the last two days. They were going 110% until the last out. The outcome wasn’t what we wanted but I was proud of the way they competed throughout. We played some of our best baseball of the year the last 2 days.” Morgan also took the time to wish departing players the best and said, “David Poynter, Avery Wilson, Timmy Crone, and Cayse Cameron are to old to play for us next year. I would like to give them special recognition and wish them the best of luck moving forward.”

Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.

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By Ryan Applegate

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