By Patrick MacCoonRecord Sports EditorThe Warrenton Freshman Legion baseball team made an early exit from the District 9 tournament as it dropped a 9-1 contest to Pacific Thursday night at the St. Charles Rec-Plex.While the outcome of the double-elimination district tournament contest could have very well been decided in five innings, Post 122 was determined to finish the season by playing a full seven innings.Pacific jumped ahead early as it plated a three-run second inning off starting pitcher Kory Schniedermeyer. Logan Gibbons drove in the first run on an RBI single, which would be the first of his three hits.Nearly all chances to mount a comeback were subdued after Post 402 plated five runs in the fifth as they strung together five hits in the inning.With the bases loaded and the game-ending run 90 feet away with just one out, Warrenton relief pitcher Camron Swaringen worked out of trouble in the bottom of the fifth.The Wright City freshman held his ground and forced two straight pop-ups to the infield, avoiding the 10-run mercy rule. Instead of packing its bags up early, Swaringen gave his team a chance to plate its first run.Alex Vogt was grateful for the opportunity.In the top of the sixth, the stocky three-hole hitter hammered a fastball that was left right down the middle deep down the right field line and hopped to the fence. Despite a stop sign from third base Coach Jamey Sherman, Vogt chugged his way to third just in time for a triple.With two outs, Braden Lawson singled Vogt home for the first and only run scored of the district tournament for Warrenton.“Near the end of the game they never gave up,” Sherman said. “Alex had a big hit and Braden did a nice job not to strand him at third base. The kids never gave up. You can’t teach that. They just kept playing until the umpire said we were done.”Vogt and Eli Ecton (1-for-3, double) each had extra-base hits for Post 122. Ecton finished a strong season with a team best .389 average and 16 stolen bases.Pacific (9-8) starter Ricky Ray only allowed six hits and one run while striking out eight in his complete-game win.Chris Vogt threw well out of the bullpen for Warrenton (6-14), striking out two in three innings while allowing one earned run.Swaringen, one of three who threw in relief, allowed two runs in two innings on three hits. He struck out one.Schniedermeyer was tagged with the loss as he only went one inning. Alex Vogt was charged with three runs in relief while not recording an out.While the tournament run was short-lived for Post 122, there was still success to be taken out of this summer.“We weren’t sure at the start of the season how we would do with so many young players,” Sherman said. “To make the playoffs was huge for these boys. They all learned that when you get to the playoffs everyone raises the bar a little bit. This season was fun and they will continue to grow and get better.”Sherman and his assistant coaches encouraged his team after the season-ending loss to get better this offseason.“For most of these kids, Legion ball is a yearlong commitment,” he said. “We will give them some time off, but we expect them to do whatever they can this offseason to get better and we will help them. We want them to work hard and even recruit other players to make this program better.”

The Ninth District Tournament for the Warrenton Freshman came to a close last Thursday. With losses to Washington and Pacific, Post 122 finished the season with a 6-12 record.

Patrick MacCoon photo