Legion baseball: Eau Claire stays alive at Great Lakes Regional with win over Muncie
Aug. 4—A day after opportunities slipped by time and time again, the Eau Claire Pizza Hut Post 53 Legion baseball team made sure to capitalize on Thursday.
Eau Claire hammered Muncie, Ind., 12-1 in an elimination game at the Great Lakes Regional, extending its stay in Midland, Mich., at least one more day. Post 53 rode a sterling performance from Jalen Pascal on the mound, and its offense broke the game open with nine runs in the fourth inning.
Pascal pitched a complete game and struck out 11 to keep Eau Claire's season alive. He limited the Indiana state champions to six hits across five innings and didn't issue any walks.
"Jalen had a good game," Eau Claire manager Mark Faanes said. "He had a really good fastball today. They had a hard time catching up with that. He just dominated them."
Eau Claire sent 12 batters to the plate in the fourth inning and utilized several bunt singles to pour on nine runs. It turned a 3-1 lead into a 12-1 advantage. Will Thibodeau, Luke Erickson, Dylan O'Connell, Gabe Richardson and Mason Kostka all had hits in the frame.
"We kept saying in the dugout, 'Let's get a couple, we think that will tip them over the edge,'" Faanes said. "And we got to the fourth there and we got the rally going."
Erickson, Jack Redwine and Thibodeau knocked two hits apiece to lead Eau Claire. O'Connell drove in three runs.
The victory came a day after Post 53 suffered a 3-2 defeat to Illinois state runner-up Moline. Eau Claire gave up three unearned runs in the first inning in that loss and couldn't cash in with runners on base in their comeback effort.
They had no such struggles a day later.
"We were determined today, after a game we all felt we should have won yesterday, and we'll be equally determined tomorrow," Faanes said.
Eau Claire plays in another elimination game at 4 p.m. on Friday. Post 53 takes on Illinois state champion Aviston, which beat Wisconsin champion Manitowoc in its regional opener before falling to host Midland in extra innings.
Eau Claire's starting pitcher is yet to be determined, but Post 53 has plenty of arms available. Pascal and Henry Wilkinson both pitched complete games in the team's first two games at the regional.
"Aviston is a good team," Faanes said, "but we'll be ready for them."
Eau Claire 12, Muncie 1
Muncie 000 10 — 1 6 1
Eau Claire 120 9X — 12 10 0
WP: Jalen Pascal (5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 11 K, 0 BB). LP: Crosby Heuhiser (3.1 IP, 10 H, 11 R, 10 ER, 1 K, 4 BB). Leading hitters: Eau Claire: Luke Erickson 2-3 (RBI), Jack Redwine 2-2 (RBI), Will Thibodeau 2-2, Dylan O'Connell 1-4 (3 RBI), Mason Kostka 1-2 (2B, RBI).
