The Blair Senior Legion baseball team moved to 3-0 Saturday with its third win in four days.
The 13-5 victory against Waterloo-Valley was Post 154's second of the Zig Drywall Invite in Fort Calhoun, too. Coach James Bilslend's team opened the three-day tournament with back-to-back run-rule victories and continued play with two games Sunday evening.
Against Waterloo-Valley, Blair jumped out to a 5-0 start through one inning. It controlled things from there, scoring at least one run every inning of the shortened game won by pitcher Nathan Murray.
Catcher Andrew Smutny notably plated three runs with a single swing during the third inning. The triple pushed Post 154's lead to 11-4 after the Wingnuts had pulled within 6-4 during the top half of the frame.
There was just one little issue with the play. Smutny nearly tripped and fell after crushing the ball into deep centerfield with his bat.
“Well, I got a little excited when I hit it,” the slugger said through a grin. “Saw how far it was going, so I was looking and I didn't get my feet under me.”
He maintained his footing, however, and kept running.
“At least I didn't fall all of the way down,” Smutny said.
The catcher also plated a run during the second inning before Jackson Livingston pushed across Blair's seventh score by sacrifice. Nelson Kosch's single made it 8-4, too, before Smutny's big swing. He said his squad was successful at the plate Saturday because it took on a consistent approach.
“Having fun, too,” said the catcher, listing his keys to the game.
Livingston later hit into a throwing error to score another run before Owen Mann reached home plate on a passed ball for an eight-run lead. It stuck, and Blair finished the game early with three more outs.
A day earlier, Post 154 opened the Fort Calhoun tournament with an identical 13-5 Friday night win against the Elkhorn Black Sox. Carter Saylor plated Blair's first run during the first inning with a double. From there, Coach Bilslend's squad built a 10-0 lead.
The Black Sox scored all five of their runs during the top of the final frame, but Post 154 responded with three of its own to win by run-rule. Smutny had four RBIs in the game, while Mann had two and homered.
Kosch and Saylor had two Blair RBIs apiece against the Sox, too, while Lucas Matejka had one. Aiden McBreen earned the pitching win, notching six strikeouts across 4 2/3 innings.
Post 154 wins opener
Before the weekend tournament, Blair opened its Senior Legion season in Calhoun on May 28 with a regular season matchup.
The Washington County teams battle back-and-forth with nine combined runs across the last three innings with Post 154 coming out on top, 7-6.
“Even through errors, our pitchers did well,” Livingston said after the win. “And our hitting was amazing today.”
“We made mistakes, but we always bounced back at the plate,” Saylor added.
Coach Bilslend's team broke a 5-5 tie during the top half of the seventh inning. Livingston ran for Matejka, the winning pitcher, after a leadoff walk and rounded the bases on back-to-back errors. He scored on a Zig Drywall throwing error off of Hudson Hamm's bunt.
“I had it in my mind that guy was going to overthrow because he did the play right before it,” Livingston said.
Saylor stepped into bat next, sending a full-count Calhoun pitch through the right side of the infield for a two-run advantage.
“Outside fastball. That's where he was throwing all day,” the Blair batter said. “I took it right where it was pitched.”
The second Post 154 run proved to be the difference after Post 348's Alex Christensen pulled the home team within 7-6 on a double to deep centerfield.
“I kind of left that (pitch) inside,” Matejka admitted. “But it didn't bother me. I knew I could get the next guy.”
The Blair pitcher struck out two of the next three batters he saw, clinching the victory. He added a single at the plate during the game, too, while Murray and Smutny contributed RBI swings.
“Our fielding could definitely use some more work,” Saylor said after the opener. “We were a bit rusty there, but we picked up the bats right where we left them, you know?”
POST 154 LINE SCORES
Saturday
Blair 13, Waterloo-Valley 5, 5 inn.
WV 0 1 3 1 0 — 5
BLAIR (3-0) 5 1 5 2 X — 13
Friday
Blair 13, Elkhorn Black Sox 5, 5 inn.
EBS 0 0 0 0 5 — 5
BLAIR (2-0) 1 6 0 3 3 — 13
May 28
Blair 7, Fort Calhoun 6
BLAIR (1-0) 2 0 0 1 0 2 2 — 7
FC (0-1) 1 0 0 0 3 1 1 — 6
