GREENVILLE – Greenville American Legion Post 140 Thunder defeated the visiting Troy Post 43 Legends 6-1 in Tuesday night 18U baseball giving Post 140 an impressive 3-0 start to the young American Legion Baseball season.
When the dust had settled, both teams accounted for five hits on the night, with the difference coming on the mound with Brookville’s Nathan Waggoner going the distance, surrendering two walks and striking out 13 over 7.0 innings of work, while Troy was saddled with eight walks.
“Waggs was incredible,” Post 140 coach Chad Henry said. “They made a run at Brookville, and he was a big cog in that so to see him come out here and continue to deal the way he is – he can throw three pitches for a strike, he comes out, he mixes them up, and gets a lot of guess swings up there, not a lot of solid contact.”
Greenville plated a run in the bottom of the first with Greenville’s Owen Mcgreevey taking a one-out walk and steal of second, setting up a Bryce Kramer (Arcanum) RBI double to left, his first of three hits on the night.
Post 140 opened second-inning play with a groundout to short and a fly to right followed by three consecutive walks, a Carson Bergman (Versailles) walk, and a steal of second, Braeden Wills (Greenville) got his walk; Bergman swiped third, followed by Mcgreevey taking a walk loading the bases with two outs on the board.
Bergman raced home on a passed ball and a 2-0 score, bringing a pitching change to the Troy mound. Kramer greeted Post 43 relief pitcher with a run-scoring liner to center, giving Post 140 Thunder a 3-0 lead after two complete.
Troy scored a run in the top of the third to trail 3-1.
Incoming Trine University freshman Xaviar Mathews reached on a third-inning two-base error, setting up a back-to-back Troy balks scoring Mathews, giving Post 140 a 4-1 advantage with three innings in the book.
Greenville tacked on two runs at the bottom of the fourth, with Wills and Kramer walking and Waggoner busting an RBI double to the right. Randolph Southern’s Vance Taylor knocked a single before Kramer scored on a Troy passed ball.
The District 3 American Legions teams played scoreless ball over the final three innings giving Greenville Post 140 a 6-1 win to stay perfect on the season.
“Last year, we started off 2-10,” said Coach Herny. “We had a young squad and a lot of good time with them at the end of the year. We finished down the stretch 9-4, and we’ve picked right back up where we left off.”
Coach Henry had praise for his catcher, Bryce Kramer, following the game.
“He’s caught two so far, and being a junior catcher, he comes out, has a nice move, and when he lets that thing go, he puts it right on the money,” Henry said of his throws to second, accounting for a seventh-inning out.
Waggoner went the distance to pick up the Greenville American Legion win, allowing 1 earned run, 5 hits, and 2 walks while striking out 13.
Kramer paced Post 140 at the plate, going 3-3 with a walk, including 2 doubles, 2 RBI, and a run scored. Waggoner was 1-3 with a double, a walk, and an RBI, and Taylor went 1-4.
BOX SCORE
123 456 7 R H E
001 000 0 1 5 1 Troy Post 43
121 200 X 6 5 2 Greenville Post 140
