HARRISBURG - Fletcher Groppel hit a two-run homer over the fence in right field. and it turned out to be a key blow, as Will McCormick struck out four in gaining the win to help Alton Post 126's junior American Legion baseball team go on to a 6-4 win over Patoka Post 543 to advance to the championship series of the Illinois Fifth Division tournament Saturday afternoon at Southeastern Illinois College in Harrisburg.
The junior Legionnaires bounced back nicely from a 9-1 loss to Carrier Mills Post 346, and will play Carrier Mills in the finals on Sunday afternoon, with a trip to the state tournament at stake.
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Patoka took a 1-0 third-inning lead after the first two innings were scoreless, but Alton bounced back with a run in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 2-1, then scored three times in the fifth to go ahead 4-2, with Groppel's homer in the sixth extending the lead to 6-2 in the sixth. Patoka scored twice in the top of the seventh to cut the lead to 6-4, but Post 126 held on to take the win and move on to the championships.
Both Groppel and Zach Thornton had two hits and two RBIs for the junior Legionnaires, with Groppel's homer making the difference, while Clayton McCormick had two hits and an RBI, and both Kadin Witsken and Chris Rayfield also had hits. Will McCormick pitched 6.1 innings to get the win, allowing four earned runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out four, while Witsken got the final two outs to earn a save, not allowing a run or hit, walking one and striking out none.
Post 126 meets Carrier Mills in the finals of the tournament Sunday afternoon at Southeastern Illinois College at 3:30 p.m., with a second game starting at 6 p.m. should Alton win the first game. The Division winner goes on to the Illinois state tournament at Carol Stream, in suburban Chicago, July 23-28.
