By Patrick MacCoonRecord Sports EditorA game-changing play on defense halted a late comeback for the Warrenton Junior Legion baseball team in an 8-5 loss at Elsberry Monday afternoon.While Post 122 struggled to present a threat at the plate and throw strikes after taking a 2-1 lead in the top of the second, patience at the plate in their final at-bat cut down a six-run defficit and brought fans to the edge of their seats for the finish.Third baseman Chris Garrett loaded the bases in the top of the seventh with one out after he kept his weight back on a curve ball and singled up the middle on a full count to give himself a multi-hit performance.“The great thing about Chris is he doesn’t strike out often,” Warrenton Junior Legion Head Coach Ken Dildine said. “He gets in there and makes good contact. He’s a very smart baseball player and he reacts well to what opposing pitchers bring him.”Brendan Hazel, Devon Oden and James Dotson drew three consecutive full-count walks, in which they saw 23 total pitches, to bring home a runner each time to cut the deficit to 8-5.“Patience is something we have talked about a lot as a team,” Dildine said. “We teach them the yes-yes-no approach at the plate. Yes I’m going to hit it, yes I’m going to drive it, no I’m not going to hit it if it’s not there. That mindset is finally starting to set in for us.”With a will to put the ball in play, Clayton Schowe made solid contact with a pitch over the middle of the plate that looked like it would sneak through the infield to plate two more runners.However, a diving stop by the Elsberry second baseman and a quick scoop to the second base bag cut short the rally from Warrenton.“If that ball was hit just a couple more inches to the right we are down by just one run,” he said. “We just have to keep putting the ball in play and hope it finds the right hole to sneak through. We’ve only averaged two strike outs as a lineup in our past two games, so that’s a plus.”Schowe drove in a team-high two runs and was marked as the losing pitcher. In three innings, the left-hander allowed two earned runs and struck out three.“When Schowe is pitching down in the zone and pounding the strike zone, he is like Tom Glavine in all the ground balls he forces,” Dildine said. “We have two lefties that can pitch for us and he is a weapon that we hope will help lead our pitching staff this summer.”Charlie Gerard raised his on-base percentage to well over .400 in the summer with a game-high three walks and despite a 0-for-3 line from Matt Dildine, his average is still over the .400 mark.“Gerrard has a great eye at the plate right now and his on-base percentage is skyrocketing because he is seeing the ball so well,” he said. “The team really did a good job picking up Matt today on an off-day at the plate. He came into the game hitting .436, so we look for him to get our offense going a lot of the time.”While falling to 5-9, Dildine believes his team is showing the necessary fight to keep improving.“As a coach you’d like to start a little earlier than the seventh inning, but they’ve shown resilience and they have a winning attitude right now,” he said. “No heads are down on our team and they continue to make great strides.”

PLAY AT HOME — Warrenton Junior Legion catcher Chris Vogt puts down the tag in time on Cameron Richardson for the out on a close play at home plate. Elsberry held on for an 8-5 victory over Post 122 on Monday afternoon.

Patrick MacCoon photo.