Legion blisters Charleston

SIKESTON - The Sikeston Senior American Legion Post 114 baseball team improved to 7-3 on the season with a 16-3 win against Charleston Legion on Tuesday at VFW Stadium.

Sikeston opened up a 7-0 lead after two innings to put the game away early.

"The kids came out and swung the bats really well today," said Sikeston head coach Charlie Dye. "All in all it was a workmanlike performance. The kids did what they had to do."

Sikeston (7-3, 3-0) pounded out 19 hits in the game and limited Charleston (0-8, 0-3) to three hits.

Blake DeWitt led the charge, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and six RBIs. He also had four runs scored.

In the third inning, Charleston elected to pitch around DeWitt to load the bases. Jacob Priday followed that up with a grand slam to build a 11-2 lead.

"Sikeston's got some red-hot bats," said Charleston head coach Jack Whiteside. "They're young but they hit the ball well. We threw fastballs early on and they racked them. So we tried to throw more breaking stuff to them and they started lighting those up too."

Sikeston got on the board in the first inning when Drew Lawrence tripled in Nathan Eaves. DeWitt then blasted a home run over the right field fence to make it 3-0.

DeWitt connected on a three-run homer in the second inning that reached the parking lot across the street in right centerfield.

He added an RBI-single in the fourth inning to cap his outstanding day.

Priday went 3-5 with five RBIs and a two runs. Lance Rhodes went 4-5 with two RBIs.

On top of that, Sikeston's trio of pitchers, Scotty Keenan, Dustin Kelley and Mark Adam Wade combined on the three-hitter while striking out nine. All three runs were unearned.

Kelley didn't allow any hits or runs in his three innings.

"Our pitchers threw strikes," said Dye. "We got some good work in with Scotty. And Dustin Kelley came in a gave us three good innings. It was just a good day for us. Blake had a monster night and Jake Priday did a lot of damage. Lance Rhodes was 4-for-5. We just hit the ball well up and down the lineup."

Also having strong days at the plate were Eaves (3-4, four runs), Lawrence (2-4, 2 RBIs, 4 runs) and Wade (2-3).

Garrett Stricker took the loss for Charleston.

"We're young and we have a lot of first-year players," said Whiteside. "Most of them are 16- and 17-years-old. This is a tough league to play in. When you play the bigger towns like Sikeston and Cape and Dunklin County with its big draw, it's hard for us to compete on that level. We have what we call a small market."

Charleston's A.H. Marshall led the team with two hits. Rhett Thompson provided Charleston's only other hit.

Charleston will host Chaffee, while Sikeston will play at Marshall County, Ky., on Friday night.