American Legion: Coming Up Short
Following a loss to Metropolis Tuesday at the the 5th Division American Legion Tournament, Harrisburg Post 167 fought its way back from the depths of the consolation bracket.
In order to get its revenge against Post 306, the only thing that stood in Harrisburg's way was Highland.
And that was a task that Post 167 just couldn't overcome, despite a furious rally in the bottom of the ninth inning that resulted in a 5-4 loss Saturday.
Highland not only beat Harrisburg, but also knocked off Metropolis (3-2) in the championship game and will represent the 5th Division at this week's American Legion State Tournament in Jerseyville.
Harrisburg head coach Doug Emery couldn't help but notice the fielding errors his team made in the loss, noting "It just wasn't meant to be."
"We couldn't get anything going early and it took us six or seven innings to get going. Our offense was kind of lacking and our errors hurt us. We made too many fielding errors, got in a hole and got down 5-0.
"I'm proud of the kids for fighting back and being able to battled back. We were - that close - to coming back and winning this game. They made a good play on Noah's ball at third (in the bottom of the seventh inning) and then Britton's ball was hit hard (in the bottom of the ninth) that (Highland) just made a good play on. It just wasn't meant to be for us."
Highland held Harrisburg to four hits on the day and and the Post 167 defense didn't help out starting pitcher Noah Vallette much, making seven errors on the day.
Highland took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, taking advantage of three miscues in the field by Post 167. Highland broke the game open in the seventh with four runs on five hits, including another error.
Post 167 put up two runs on the bottom of the seventh as Jordan Gould led the inning off with a walk and Austin Hefner was hit by a pitch. Bryce Emery then loaded the bases on a fielder's choice and Vallette, despite grounding out into a double play at third, scored Gould. Patrick Bittle then singled to put runners on the corner and Riden singled to score Emery.
Post 167 tried to rally one last time in the bottom of the ninth as Emery hit a one-out double to centerfield and Vallette was then hit by a pitch. Bittle walked and after a wild pitch scored Emery to make it 5-3, Riden grounded out to second that allowed Vallette to score on the throw to first, but Bittle got caught in a run down between second and third and would eventually be tagged out for the final out.
Vallette hesitated on the hit by Riden to score and according to Emery, he didn't have the green light if the ball didn't get through the infield.
"Highland was playing in, halfway at least, so I told him if it gets through you can go. It was hit hard and if he would have gone, they probably would have thrown him out at home. I just didn't want to take a chance. Now, if (Highland) would have been back, it was just one of those things, Britton could have stepped up there and hit one out. We both knew it could be his last at bat and he was going after it and he hit it hard, it just didn't get through."
Vallette, pitched the first nine inning game of his career Saturday, allowing nine hits and striking out nine in the loss.
"You can't ask any more out of anyone that what we got from Noah," Emery said. "Who can come out here, Bryce pitched nine innings the last game and Noah comes out and pitches nine innings in this heat. I told our guys before this tournament even started that anyone is going to throw nine innings in this heat and here we had two pitchers do it. You can't ask anymore from Noah, he pitched a great game, we just couldn't make the plays."
Harrisburg Post 167 ends its season at 18-9. The team finished the regular season at 9-3 and came in second to Metropolis at the 24th District Tournament in Carmi.
When the smoke settled over the weekend, Harrisburg was one of three teams left vying for a spot in the state tournament.
Emery said when the season started, this is exactly where he expected his group to be at.
"You know, I did. We played well that weekend that we hosted Carrier Mills to start the season and I thought, 'man, we're going to be good.' I knew we were going to be solid and I had a good feeling we were going to get to the division tournament, but I wasn't sure we were going to get this far. We're probably just as good as Highland Metropolis. Anyone of these three teams could have made it."
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.
American Legion 5th Division Baseball Tournament
<p><strong>American Legion 5th Division Baseball Tournament</strong><br /><strong>At West Frankfort</strong><br /><strong>Monday, July 18</strong><br />Game 1: Highland 5, Sparta 0<br />Game 2: Metropolis 4, New Baden 1<br />Game 3: Herrin 1, Teutopolis 0 (forfeit)<br />Game 4: Harrisburg 14, Orient 2<br /><strong>Tuesday, July 19</strong><br />Game 5: Sparta 1 Teutopolis 0 (forfeit)<br />Game 6: New Baden 8, Orient 1<br />Game 7: Herrin 8, Highland 7<br />Game 8: Metropolis 4, Harrisburg 3<br /><strong>Wednesday, July 20</strong><br />Game 9: Highland 6, New Baden 2<br />Game 10: Harrisburg 15, Sparta 9<br />Game 11: Metropolis 5, Herrin 4<br /><strong>Thursday, July 21</strong><br />Game 12: Harrisburg 7, Herrin1<br />Game 13: Highland 10, Metropolis 3<br /><strong>Saturday, July 23</strong><br />Game 14: Highland 5, Harrisburg 4<br />Game 15: Highland 3, Metropolis 2</p>