The Blair Senior Legion baseball team opened its season May 24 with a 4-3 thriller at Vets Field.
Trailing by one run during the bottom of the seventh inning, Post 154's Brady Brown stepped up to the plate against Ashland and hit a walk-off, two-run home run. The outfielder wasn't thinking about clearing the fence when he took his place in the batter's box, but he didn't mind finishing things off that way either.
“Really, just a good at-bat was on my mind,” he said.
Elijah Morgan set up the game-winning homer by taking an Ashland pitch to the helmet first.
“A home run doesn't really mean nothing if you don't got that guy on base,” Brown said.
The Bears started their 1-0 season start with a 1-0 lead during the first inning. Nate Wachter's sac fly gave the home team a lead it would hold until the top of the fifth inning.
After Ashland tied it, Post 154's Tanner Jacobson stole home plate during the sixth inning for a 2-1 advantage. The opposition's pitcher and catcher disputed the umpire's ball call and were distracted when the Bear took off from third base for home plate.
“That was all me,” Jacobson said after the game.
He slid in safe just after the two Ashland players recognized their miscue.
“Me and coach have that conversation a lot, always looking for that opportunity,” Jacobson said. “I saw it and couldn't let it go by.”
The 2-1 Blair lead only lasted until the top of the seventh frame when Ashland secured a 3-2 scoreboard advantage on a two-run single. The road team's lead wasn't enough, though, as Morgan and Brown got to work in the bottom half of the inning.
Blaine Rosenbaum earned the Post 154 pitching win after one inning of relief, but Jacobson threw six innings of one-run ball. The latter right-hander said both his fastball and curveball were hitting the strike zone during the opener.
“(Ashland batters) were swinging and missing a lot,” he added.
All-in-all, the Bears' efforts were good enough for a 1-0 start to the season.
“It's my first summer playing Legion and I love playing with these guys,” Brown said. “So, it felt pretty good to end up coming up with the win today.”
Post 154 Juniors win opener
The Blair Junior Legion baseball team opened its season May 24 against Ashland as well, winning 7-0.
The Bears led from the start with Nelson Kosch scoring the season's first run on a wild pitch during the first inning. Lucas Matejka pitched into the sixth inning and earned the win on the mound.
POST 154 SENIOR LINE SCORE
May 24
Blair 4, Ashland 3
ASH 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 — 3
BLAIR (1-0) 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 — 4
