The plan was working perfectly. The Jefferson City Post 5 Seniors had a combined two-hitter going into the seventh inning and had the lead. It just wasn't a comfortable lead.
Washington Post 218 leadoff batter Tommy Ruether went after the first pitch he saw with two runners in scoring position with one out and drove it into deep center field for a two-run, walk-off double to earn a 2-1 victory Friday in the first round of the Zone 1 Tournament at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.
"That's probably one of the worst losses I've had," Post 5 coach Curt Vaughn said. "I'm second-guessing myself big time, but our thing was we had to get that guy and he had a good swing. He was looking fastball first pitch and he crushed it."
Vaughn had the option to walk Ruether to load the bases with one out, but felt comfortable letting Connor McKenna pitch to him.
"We could have tried to turn two, but I don't know," Vaughn said. "The top part of their lineup is good and it's pick your poison with those top four hitters. I have a lot of confidence with Connor out there on the mound."
McKenna, who pitched 2 innings of relief, didn't allow a hit until the Joe Hackman led off the seventh with a single. After a walk, Adam Molitor bunted the runners into scoring position.
"He competes. He's competed all summer," Vaughn said of McKenna. "He wants to throw every game, every inning. This was his game to finish and it just didn't work out today. We'll come back tomorrow and play good baseball."
The loss sends the Seniors to the loser's bracket. They'll face Moberly Post 6 at 4:30 p.m. today in an elimination game.
Washington will take on St. Charles Post 312 at 2 p.m. today in the winner's bracket.
St. Charles and Moberly went nine innings in Friday's opening game with St. Charles winning 5-4 in walk-off fashion.
Vaughn knew the importance of avoiding the loser's bracket, so he used two of his usual starting pitchers.
Skyler Dickneite threw the first 3 innings, allowing just two hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
"We knew this was a very big game," Vaughn said. "Their pitcher threw very good. We knew this was a game that we wanted to really get because it's tough coming back from that loser's side. We have the arms to do it. I think we're one of the teams that can do it so we're going to have to do it."
Washington starter Jake Jinkerson went the distance, striking out seven and walking one while allowing a run on five hits.
Post 5 scored its lone run in the second when Mason Hansen raced to the plate from second base on an infield single by Drew Bax.
"We've kind of fallen into a little slump the last two weeks," Vaughn said. "We just expected to have a little better results than we did today."