In order to end its three-week losing streak, the Post 122 Senior Legion team needed a defensive stand in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings on Monday evening. No such luck. Warrenton dropped its six straight contest, falling 5-4 to St. Charles, who pulled through a game-winning double on its final at-bat. “This was a good team we were playing,” said coach Kevin Shough. “We stuck in there. We got down 4-0, but we kept battling and getting on base. We actually manufactured some runs tonight and kept it close.” Post 122 had managed to overcome a dismal start, tying the game in the seventh. Shough says it may have been his team’s best effort of the summer, and it came against a St. Charles team that has won 23 games this season. “I felt like this was probably one of the best games we’ve played all season,” acknowledged Shough. It didn’t necessarily start that promising. St. Charles planted a pair of deep hits in left field, using a triple and double to score its first run. Post 122 aided the hard-hitting cause by committing an error to bring home the second run. Warrenton placed three runners on base by walk in the third inning, leaving each stranded. St. Charles added another pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, leading off with a triple. Post 122 struggled to provide defensive support behind starting pitcher Brett Eubanks. Warrenton committed two more errors in the third, allowing St. Charles to go ahead 4-0. “It started a little rough, but our defense finally stepped up and made some plays,” said Shough. “We had a couple of those little dinkers hit up and got caught up in the lights where we couldn’t see them. I felt like we learned from that and started communicating later in the game.” Post 122 finally threatened in the fifth, scoring two runs with two outs. Russell Nanney began the inning by reaching second base on an error, and Chad Berrey was hit by a pitch. Greg Hobusch and Eric Smurl stepped up with consecutive singles, and Jakob Junker reached by error to cut the gap to 4-2. Warrenton managed to tie the game in the seventh. Nick Shough was hit by a pitch, and Greg Hobusch pushed him into scoring position with a double. Eric Smurl sent the tying run home with a double. Both teams worked through the eighth inning unscathed defensively. Shough says he was satisfied with the job done by his pitchers. “If the other team is getting hitting against us, that’s fine,” said Shough. “It’s when we walking them or hitting them and giving up bases that I get concerned.” Hobusch doubled again in the ninth but was left on base. St. Charles managed to offset the bottom of the inning on an error and double. “With a runner on third, that last guy smacked the snot, and that’s what they needed,” said Shough. “They beat us with a good hit.” Three players accounted for Warrenton’s six hits, with Hobusch claiming three of those. Smurl had two hits and Junker singled once. Eubanks tossed six innings, allowing four hits, striking out two and walking two. Nick Shough entered in relief, throwing the final three innings. He gave up three hits and one walk, striking out two batters. “I saw some life in our players today that will maybe stick with them,” said Shough. “It’s something we needed desperately, was for our players to step up and decide they wanted to play this game and be honest to themselves.If we keep playing like that, we can put some wins on the board.”