Post 366 stays hot, run-rules Augusta years ago
Hillsboro Legion baseball team
mauls Augusta, 18-8
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
One of Hillsboro American Legion baseball team manager Lyman Adams' biggest concerns Monday night was that his team would be bushed from a strenuous weekend.
After competing Friday and Saturday in the scorching heat of a competitive McPherson Tournament, Adams had good reason to worry.
But Adams' butterflies likely settled after Post 366 used a four-run six-hit rally to break open a 3-3 game Monday night in Hillsboro against Augusta.
Caleb Marsh drove in a game-high six RBIs to help 366 crush Augusta, 18-8.
Hillsboro raises its record to 17-6 on the year.
Winning four of their last six, 366 appears to be peaking at the right time of the year, heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.
The biggest question of the game had to be where 366's hitting has been hiding.
Post 366 put an end to the wondering Monday, putting up 24 against a battered Augusta pitching rotation.
And it was Marsh that got it rolling for 366 in the bottom of the first, sending the first pitch deep for a solo home run as part of the three-run explosion.
Enduring a late hitting slump, Dustin Jost had a break out game, going a perfect four-for-four.
Jerod Metcalf scored Jost with another two-base hit to give 366 a 2-0 lead before Shawn Hughbanks capped the scoring with a run scoring single.
Little used hurler Bryan Swenson went five innings on the mound to notch his first win of the season.
Augusta tied the game up in the top of the second, rattling Swenson for three runs off three hits.
Still within striking distance with the game tied, the game came uncorked on Augusta the bottom of the second.
Marsh began putting distance between 366 and Augusta with a two-out single to score Todd Stahlecker from third.
Metcalf kept the rally alive with a two-run double. Hughbanks capped off his two RBI outing with another RBI single.
Once Augusta stopped the bleeding in the bottom of the third, holding 366 to a ground rule double by Jost, it was trailing 7-3, and down one pitcher.
Augusta battled back, adding three runs in the top of seventh and eighth, but 366 had firm control of the game.
Fresh off his best effort of the season on the mound, Swensen ignited one of 366's biggest innings of the year, a six-run eruption with an RBI single.
Stahlecker laid down another basehit before Marsh struck yet again, ripping a one-out two-run double to leave Augusta asking for mercy.
Post 366 returns to action after four days of much-needed rest Friday when they host Newton at 6 p.m.
Hillsboro then travels Saturday for a rematch with El Dorado in a 4 p.m. start.
McPherson
As successful as the weekend's McPherson Tournament was for 366, it also provided a good share of disappointment.
Despite dropping only one game, an 8-0 shutout against eventual champion Nickerson, 366 still finished third, even getting payback against runner-up McPherson.
With a trio of teams all posting 3-1 records through the weekend, first place was awarded to the team which surrendered the least number of runs.
An eight-run third inning, sparked by Chad Hughbanks' bases-clearing double and a two run single from Tyler Goldsby helped 366 polish off Russell Friday, 14-5.
In one of the ugliest games of the season two weeks earlier in Hillsboro, McPherson pounded 366, 8-2.
Post 366 got its retribution for being embarrassed at home in the Friday finale, thumping the tournament host, 12-4.
Through the years regardless of being legion or high school baseball, Nickerson has Hillsboro's number.
The streak remained intact for Nickerson in Saturday's second game with 366 getting blanked by Noah Krol.
Hillsboro crushed Circle earlier in the season but got all it wanted in the final game Saturday.
Going hitless through three innings and trailing 4-3 down to their final three outs, it took a three-inning rally in the bottom of the seventh for 366 to top Circle, 6-4.
