AAAs tie for 5th place at Manhattan Tournament
Emporia defeats St. Joseph on Saturday before falling to Jefferson City on Sunday
By Jesse Newell
Monday, June 11, 2007
The Emporia AAAs went 1-1 over the weekend to finish tied for fifth in the 10-team Manhattan Tournament.
The AAAs defeated St. Joseph, Mo., 9-1, on Saturday before losing to Jefferson City, Mo., 11-1, in four innings on Sunday.
Emporia showed how good of a team it could be against St. Joseph, helped by a strong outing from Alex Reyes.
The AAA starter pitched a complete game, striking out five and allowing just a single run.
“Reyes threw a great game for us,” Emporia AAA coach Ryan Oden said. “I think he’s ready to get back to the form he was at last year.”
Meanwhile, Emporia notched nine runs on nine hits, led by designated hitter Cole Armitage, who had a home run and double in three at-bats.
Reyes added a triple and Harrison Stone reached in all his plate appearances.
“That’s the team we should be,” Oden said. “If we play like that, we’ll be competitive every game.
“That’s definitely the team we foresaw when we picked it.”
It fell apart for the AAAs in their early-morning Sunday game, as Emporia committed five errors against Jefferson City in the run-rule shortened game.
“It was just a total defensive collapse,” Oden said. “That was not Emporia legion baseball.”
Emporia led 1-0 with two outs in the bottom of the first before an error allowed Jefferson City to extend its inning and score five unearned runs in the frame.
“You live, learn and you move on,” Oden said. “The kids have got to come back and put it behind them, and I think they will. (That game) was a wake-up call, and I think they’ll respond.”
The AAAs mustered just four hits in the four-inning contest.
Emporia’s Adam Tebben took the loss, going 3 1/3 innings.
The AAAs (6-2) were scheduled to play Tuesday at home against Manhattan, but that game has been canceled. Emporia will play Paola as scheduled at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Soden’s Grove.
Sunday at Manhattan
Jefferson City 11, Emporia AAA 1
Emporia 1 4 5
Jeff. City, Mo. 11 13 0
L — Adam Tebben.
Saturday at Manhattan
Emporia AAAs 9, St. Joseph 1
St. Joseph, Mo. 1 7 2
Emporia 9 9 2
W — Alex Reyes.
Emporia highlights — Cole Armitage 2-3, HR, 2B; Alex Reyes 3B; Harrison Stone 1-1.