TILTON — It has been said that two-out runs can be the difference between winning and losing.
That was certainly the case on Friday at the TB24 Memorial Wood Bat Tournament at Gruber Park.
Rock Island Post 200 scored all seven of its runs with two-out hits as they rallied to beat the Post 210 Speakers 7-6 in eight innings.
“We have to do a better job with situational hitting,’’ said Post 210 manager Brent Hart, whose team was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts with a runner in scoring position in the seventh and eighth innings. “I felt like that those were fastballs that we probably should have been able to put wood on, especially with guys in scoring position.
“We have to do a better job of moving guys around on the bases and driving them home.’’
Outfielder Conlan Moore, who had an RBI-single in the Speakers five-run fifth inning, admitted that Post 210 needed to do a better job in those late-game situations.
“It seemed like we had a few problems with the strike zone, but it was deep enough into the game, that we knew where it was being called,’’ he said. “We needed to do a better job battling off those pitches. While it might not have been a pitch that we could hit, it was a pitch that we could have fouled out and tried to get a better pitch after that.
“We kept getting guys on base, but when we would get them into scoring position, that’s when our offense stalled out.’’
Post 210 seemed like it was in a perfect position to win the opening game of the tournament after scoring five times in the fifth to build a 6-2 lead.
Moore’s run-scoring single followed a two-run double by Jaydon Riggs and an RBI-single by Braxton Waller.
“We were on top of the world for a little bit,’’ Moore said. “We had a good inning and then we had a bad inning. That’s kind of baseball right now for us. It seems like that it how our season has been going.’’
Rock Island answered the Post 210 five-run frame with four runs, all coming with two outs, thanks in part to a walk and a batter reaching on a hit-by-pitch.
Namarion Coleman, the winning pitcher for Rock Island, delivered a key two-run double.
“We put up six runs with wood bats. When you are up 6-2, you shouldn’t lose the game,’’ said Hart. “Rock Island is good. They are a state contender, but we have to do a better job of understanding game situations.
“You can’t walk people. We have to do a better job of throwing competitive pitches all game.’’
Rock Island would eventually score the game-winning run in the eighth as Coleman was hit by a pitch from losing pitcher Pedro Rangel IV. Coleman scored on a two-out infield single by Tyler Thiem.
“I think Rangel did a really good job,’’ said Hart as the right-hander only allowed that infield single in three innings while striking out four. “He had a fastball get away from him to start that inning. Rock Island did a good job of getting that runner around to third and they came up with a perfectly placed hit.’’
Post 210 infielder Jaydon Riggs not only had a double in the fifth, but he also had a two-base hit leading off the fourth as his drive to center just missed clearing the fence, but it wound up being another missed opportunity for the Speakers as the next three hitters flew out, struck out and grounded out.
“We need to work on the little things, like situational hitting and getting bunts down,’’ he said. “We know what we need to fix and when we fix those things, we’ll be fine.
“We just had a few things that didn’t go our way at the end.’’
It was the fourth straight game in the past two years between Rock Island and Post 210 that was decided in the game’s final at-bat.
The Speakers won all three meetings a year ago in walk-off situations including a 7-6 triumph at the state tournament when Grant Morgan scored on a passed ball.
Rain on Friday forced a two-hour delay in the schedule and Post 210’s second game of the tournament against Barrington, a 9-2 winner over Crawfordsville earlier on Friday, was still in progress when the Commercial-News went to press. For a complete recap of that game, please see the Commercial-News web site at www.commercial-news.com
At Gruber Park, Tilton Rock Island 7, Post 210 Speakers 6 (8 innings)
Post 210 001 050 00 — 6 9 0
Rock Island 002 040 01 — 7 9 0
WP — Namarion Coleman. LP — Pedro Rangel IV. Two or more hits — Post 210: Ryker Small 2, Jaydon Riggs 2, Conlan Moore 2. Rock Island: Coleman 2, Gavin Awbrey 2, Tyler Thiem 2. 2B — Post 210: Riggs 2. Rock Island: Coleman. RBIs — Post 210: Riggs 2, Moore 1, Drew Wichtowski, Braxton Waller, Jameson Remole. Rock Island: Awbrey 3, Coleman 2, Thiem 1, Owen Michaels 1.
Records — Post 210 Speakers 18-10 overall. Rock Island 13-1 overall.
TB24 Tournament All times Central At Gruber Park, Tilton
Pool A — Rock Island 1-0, Barrington 1-0, Crawfordsville (Ind.) 0-1, Post 210 Speakers 0-1.
Pool B — Harrisburg 1-0, Terre Haute (Ind.) 1-0, Alton 0-1, Wheaton 0-1.
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 — Post 210 Speakers vs. Barrington, LATE
Game 6 — Alton vs. Harrisburg, LATE
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.