The bats are finally beginning to catch fire for the Warrenton Post 122 Senior Legion team.A much improved effort allowed Post 122 to battle closely with Elsberry the majority of the way during a 10-6 defeat.“The boys played solid and hit the ball well,” said Coach Ken Dildine. “We’re starting to score a lot more runs, and we’re putting the ball in play again.”Despite making better contact, runs weren’t necessarily abundant.“We hit the ball, but we were hitting it right at them,” said Dildine. “We’ve got to find the gaps more often.”Trailing 2-0 heading into the sixth inning, Warrenton was able to take advantage at the plate as the game progressed.Trevor Bradshaw collected the first run, connecting on a single and advancing home on a Kenny Dildine double.“We faced their best pitcher,” said Dildine. “During the latter innings, he started throwing his breaking ball a lot more and his velocity started slowing down.”Bradshaw scored again in the seventh, along with Justin Ohmes, Corey Eckenfels and Jacob Abel, who hit consecutive singles.But Elsberry posted an even more dominant seventh inning, driving home seven runs against starting pitcher Taylor Duvel.Ohmes scored again in the eighth after reaching on a walk.Dildine was particularly impressed with his team’s pitching.Duvel started on the mound, throwing six innings. He gave up just one run through five.“He pitched a whale of a game,” said Dildine. “We played pretty error free ball most of the way but then fell apart.”Hunter Russell was called in for relief during the seventh, pitching a scoreless inning.Paul Inman closed, shutting down Elsberry in the final two innings.“He’s starting to get his confidence back a lot more and is feeling comfortable throwing again after struggling against St. Peters,” said Dildine.Dildine was pleased with the plate appearances by Luke Darity, who made solid contact but was unable to find the gaps.“He hit the ball solid on all four at-bats,” said Dildine. “He seems to be getting in his comfort zone again.”“The leadership that Jakob Junker, Kenny Dildine, Paul Inman and Trevor Bradshaw have provided has really gotten the boys talking a lot more excited,” said Dildine. “They’ve gotten the rest of their teammates fired up about the hitting aspect.”

Warrenton Post 122 Senior Legion player Jacob Abel has started at catcher this season.

Derrick Forsythe Photo.