Carmi American Legion posted statement wins to close out 24th District play Saturday taking out Grayville by a 7-1 score in Game 1 and following that up with an 8-1 win. Jason Mendenhall pitched a complete game for Post 224 in Game 1 giving up only 3 hits and walking only 2. He sent 5 batters down on strikeouts to complete the stellar outing.
Carmi tallied runs in the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th wasting no time out of the gate with 3 in the bottom of the first and it was the top of the lineup that did the lion’s share of damage. Trey Simmons, Brandon Skaggs, and Travis Black combined to go 6 for 12 from the plate and scored 6 of Carmi’s 7 runs.
As dominant as Mendenhall was in Game 1, Cole Blazier had just as impressive a day, if not better. In 6 innings, the Carmi product allowed a single run in the 4th, allowed only 2 hits, 3 walks and sat down 12 Grayville batters via K. Gia Berekashvili closed it out in the 7th.
Travis Black had 2 hits in his only 2 official at bats, while KaCee Fulkerson went 2 for 4 and drove in 2.
Post 224 finishes up District Play with a .500 record at 4-4.
On Sunday, Carmi split a double header with Carrier Mills. Those games were originally scheduled to take place at Carmi. With the field deemed too wet however, the games were moved to Carrier Mills. The game went to extra innings and Carrier Mills walked off in the 10th with a home run giving them a 9-8 victory. Trey Simmons battled through the first 6 2/3 innings giving up only 3 runs (2 earned) while striking out 1. Wade Sauls took the loss, pitching 3 innings in relief, and giving up 6 runs (5 earned). Game 2 was scheduled to be only a 5 inning game. Carmi made no doubt about it however and short gamed their hosts with a 13-0 drubbing. Gia Berekashvili gave up only 3 hits and struck out 6. Carmi scored 3 in the 1st and tacked on 5 runs per inning in the 2nd and 3rd for the win.
Coach Pat Stewart says he’ll let us know if Post 224 will make up an earlier rain out with Evansville Pate Tuesday.
