By Patrick MacCoonRecord Sports EditorChris Garrett has had plenty of moments on the baseball diamond where he has impressed his teammates and coaches for the Post 122 Junior Legion team this summer.This past Saturday was no different in his start on the mound at home against Elsberry.Garrett pitched all seven innings and walked none while striking out four.While he allowed nine hits and gave up the game-winning run in the top of the seventh, his efforts weren’t taken lightly despite a 3-2 loss.“Chris is a good pitcher,” Head Coach Ken Dildine said. “He just loves the game. He didn’t walk a batter tonight, but he will want to improve even more in his next start. You don’t have to teach him much. He is a true ball player.”Despite locating his pitches for most of the outing, Garrett surrendered two runs in the first as he hit two batters and allowed a pair of runs to score off a Joe Martin single.Over the next five innings Garrett put up zeros on the board.“After struggling in the first inning, I started to get in a rhythm and was able to throw strikes,” Garrett said. “I just wanted to let the defense work behind me and do my job.”Alex Vogt and Devon Oden provided all the run support on the afternoon for Post 122 with RBI singles in the fourth inning to deadlock the score at 2-2.Vogt led Warrenton with a two-hit afternoon at the plate.“Alex continues to see the ball a lot better,” Dildine said. “We’ve got to keep working with all of our kids to put forth strong and quality at-bats. We had seven hits in 26 at-bats, which is an improvement from some of our past games.”In the top of the seventh Elsberry plated the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly, which was led up to by a base hit and two failed bunt coverages.“After the game I told the team that if we execute and don’t hit batters we win that game,” Dildine said. “Baseball is all a part of execution.”Instead of holding his head low after the loss, Garrett remained uplifted and kept a collected demeanor about himself.“When I’m out on the field I want to lead,” Garrett said. “I’ll look to keep everyone on their toes and in the game. I’m ready to keep our team battling at any point in the game.”While a loss always stings, the upcoming junior has kept a strong focus throughout the summer playing for both Junior and Senior Legion teams for Warrenton.“Playing nearly every day is a challenge, but it’s something you have to take one game at a time,” he said. “It’s a long season, so you have to work hard and do whatever it takes to get yourself through the season.”Pacific 10, Post 122 AA 4While Pacific committed five fielding miscues its lineup made up for the errors with 15 hits against Post 122 in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday.Warrenton’s Charlie Gerard drew two walks at the plate and went three innings on the mound for his second start of the week before giving way to Will Robinson, who struck out four batters in three relief innings.Matt Dildine and Devon Oden each had RBI singles for Post 122.The loss dropped Warrenton to 5-12 and extended its losing streak to five games.

Junior Legion pitcher Chris Garrett threw a complete game, but Post 122 fell short 3-2 against Elsberry on Saturday.

Patrick MacCoon photo.