Festus 253 wins Legion Zone tournament, advances to state
(Ballwin) Festus Post 253 won the American Legion AAA Zone 4 Championship Saturday night by defeating Ste. Genevieve Post 150 9-8 in a wild final game of the tournament.
Festus trailed 6-1 going into the bottom of the fourth inning, but Post 253 responded by scoring 4 times in the frame.
Head coach Aaron Mayer said his team has had their backs against the wall plenty this season.
Gabe King tripled to start the bottom of the sixth, scoring the tying run on a double by Jaxin Patterson.
The Hillsboro Hawks star scored the go-ahead run on a wild throw when he stole third base.
The lead would only briefly hold up, with Clayton Drury’s 2-run, 2-out double in the seventh putting Ste. Genevieve up 8-7
Festus got the tying run on to start the bottom of the seventh with a walk to Dylan Black.
With two out and now two on, the game was evened by Laine Axtetter hitting a fly-ball pop up that managed to fall behind second base for a tying single.
Sam Stokes dug in after and roped his second RBI single of the night to walk it off.
Mayer said it proved to be the right hitter at the right time.
Post 253 won its 12th of the last 15 games to improve to 17-15.
Post 150’s season ends with a record of 22-10.
Festus now moves on to the Missouri senior Legion state championships in Sedalia, beginning play Tuesday night.
Festus 253 Postgame Interview
