TILTON — Baseball teams can’t win if they don’t score and they won’t score without getting hits with runners in scoring position.
That pretty much summed up the second game of the TB24 Memorial Wood Bat Tournament for the Post 210 Speakers.
Barrington pitchers Chase Dymon and Patrick Podlesnik combined on a one-hit shutout as Barrington defeated the Speakers 1-0 on Friday night at Gruber Park.
“We had a talk after the first game on Friday and again, after this game, about situational hitting,” Post 210 manager Brent Hart said. “We have to get that going, especially with guys in scoring position. I think we struck out three times with runners on second or third and you just can’t do that.”
The Speakers (18-11) had at least 1 runner get into scoring position in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings against Barrington.
Dymon got out of jams in the second, third and fourth innings with three of his eight strikeouts, while in the fifth, he got a fly out and a ground out to maintain the shutout. In the sixth inning, it was Podlesnik getting out of a first and second situation with just one out as Barrington catcher John Albrecht cut down Conlan Moore trying to steal just before Zach Russell, who had the only hit for Post 210, lined out to right field.
“(Dymon) from Barrington was good. He spotted his off-speed really well and he kept guys off-balance all night,” Hart said. “But, we need to do a better job of moving guys around the bases and driving them home.
“Right now, it seems like we are either going to win by 10 when we hit or we are going to lose by one, when we don’t hit.”
Other than the fifth inning in the opening game, a 7-6 loss to Rock Island, where Post 210 scored five runs on five hits, the Speakers managed just one run on five hits in the other 13 innings on Friday.
“We have a few guys that are pressing a little bit,” Hart said. “They know the bats are struggling and when you get into wood bats — it’s a different game.
“We just need to hit and stay hitting.”
It appeared that Post 210 had tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth inning as Dymon attempted an illegal pickoff move as the Speakers had runners on first and third with two outs. But, the umpires didn’t call the balk as they had mistakenly told the pitcher it was a legal move.
“It’s unfortunate that we got umpires here for this tournament that don’t know the Legion Baseball rules,” said Hart about the fake to third, pickoff to first move that has been outlawed in Legion Baseball for multiple seasons. “They didn’t know the rule and they had already let the pitcher know if was a legal move.
“I voiced my opinion on the field. I think everyone heard it.”
Hart acknowledged the mistake cost his team a run and a possible opportunity to win, he still preferred the mistake came against his team.
“I rather it happened to us than another team in this tournament,” he said. “I don’t want someone driving three or four hours to get a hose job.”
Barrington scored the game’s only run in the first inning as Connor Fitzpatrick, who reached on an infield single to start the game, scored from third as teammate Dillon Fitzpatrick was caught in a rundown between first and second.
At Gruber Park, Tilton
Barrington 1, Post 210 Speakers 0
Barrington `100 `000 `— `1 `3 `1
Post 210 `000 `000 `— `0 `1 `1
WP — Chase Dymon. LP — Caden Kelemenic. Save — Patrick Podlesnik.
Records — Post 210 Speakers 18-11 overall.
TB24 Tournament All times Central At Gruber Park, Tilton
Pool A — Barrington 2-0, Rock Island 1-0, Crawfordsville (Ind.) 0-1, Post 210 Speakers 0-2
Pool B — Harrisburg 2-0, Terre Haute (Ind.) 1-0, Wheaton 0-1, Alton 0-2.
Friday’s games
Game 1 — Rock Island 7, Post 210 Speakers 6 (8 innings)
Game 2 — Terre Haute (Ind.) 2, Alton 0
Game 3 — Barrington 9, Crawfordsville (Ind.) 2
Game 4 — Harrisburg 3, Wheaton 1
Game 5 — Barrington 1, Post 210 Speakers 0
Game 6 — Harrisburg 4, Alton 0
Saturday’s games
Game 7 — Terre Haute (Ind.) vs. Wheaton, 8 a.m.
Game 8 — Alton vs. Wheaton, 10 a.m.
Game 9 — Rock Island vs. Crawfordsville (Ind.), noon
Game 10 — Harrisburg vs. Terre Haute (Ind.), 2 p.m.
Game 11 — Rock Island vs. Barrington, 4 p.m.
Game 12 — Post 210 Speakers vs. Crawfordsville (Ind.), 6 p.m.
Sunday’s games
Semifinal No. 1 — Pool A 1st place vs. Pool B 2nd place, 10 a.m.
Semifinal No. 2 — Pool B 1st place vs. Pool A 2nd place, 12:30 p.m.
Championship — semifinal winners, 3 p.m.