TERRE HAUTE — Who knew that a head-first slide into home in the top of the first inning would be the biggest play Friday night in the biggest game so far in the Wayne Newton Post 346 Terre Haute Invitational for American Legion baseball?
But with 16-year-old Shawn Walker stoning the slugging Bristol Post 143 team — a team whose specialty in its first two games was the walk-off home run — that slide by Bryan Chestnut provided the game-winning run as the host team earned a trip to the championship game with a 2-1 victory.
Post 346 plays the last of four games today at North against Evansville Pate Post 265 at approximately 7:30. But Pate has two losses, meaning the home team couldn’t lose a tiebreaker there, and the only other teams with less than two losses right now are Post 346’s other two victims. So pencil in Wayne Newton for Sunday’s second game — very possibly against Bristol again.
“I think we’re in [the championship game],” manager John Hayes said after Walker’s masterpiece Friday — a situation he happily admitted he’d have taken in a heartbeat prior to Thursday’s tournament opener.
But with Brandon Dorsett, then J.T. Bailey and now Walker combining to allow just four runs in the first three games, the possible Wayne Newton rebuilding project seems to have picked up considerable steam.
“When you’re the host, you at least want to make sure you’re playing on Sunday [in either the third-place or the championship game],” Hayes noted Friday. “You don’t want to sit there and watch four other teams play.
“But the pitching staff is doing a pretty good job right now.”
Post 346 scored its two seemingly innocent runs after two were out in the top of the first. Joe Meggs and Chestnut drew walks, both moved up on a wild pitch, and then Dorsett singled to right field. Meggs scored, of course, but a strong throw seemed to have Chestnut beaten.
“I knew it was going to be close,” the Wayne Newton left fielder said after the game. “Coach Hayes was waving me around … I tried to get on the outside half [of the plate], and I was able to [and avoid the tag in the process].”
Walker did the rest. Mixing a crackling fastball that was too much for many of the Bristol hitters whether up or down in the strike zone with an effective curveball, he allowed just one hit and one unearned run while striking out nine.
“He was throwing gas,” Hayes said afterward, “and those guys [from Bristol] swing the bats real well … I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t play them again on Sunday.”
“I was just throwing the ball,” Walker said. “Getting the first strike helped me a lot, and I had to work down [in the strike zone] … but it worked out in the end.”
Walker allowed a leadoff double by Zack Rice — the ninth batter in the Bristol lineup — in the third inning, but escaped trouble by striking out the opponent’s two best hitters to end that inning.
Wayne Newton got a leadoff double by Evan Luken in the second, a leadoff single by Dorsett in the fourth and a leadoff single by Chestnut followed by Dorsett’s sacrifice in the sixth. But each time Bristol’s stellar defense, led by third baseman Chris Cassella and second baseman Troy DeMarco, made big plays.
There wasn’t another Bristol baserunner until a leadoff walk in the sixth, followed immediately by Post 346’s only error. But Chestnut ran down the last hard-hit ball of the night for the first out, a weak grounder drove in the run for the second out, and Walker then struck out four of the last five batters — the last two with the tying run in scoring position.
Asked if it was the best game he’d ever pitched, Walker — who was only available for the last half of the high school season — answered, “Yeah, by far.”
And now the home team is in the driver’s seat of its own tournament — not an unusual circumstance, but a more unexpected one in this particular season.
“It feels really good [being 3-0 in the tournament],” said Chestnut. “The first of the year everybody was just getting to know each other. We started out a little slow … but it’s a good feeling to have these great wins in a row.”
Wayne Newton 2, Bristol 1
W.Newton ab r h bi Bristol ab r h bi
Kraemer ss 4 0 0 0 Short rf 2 1 0 0
Odum 3b 3 0 0 0 CCassella 3b 3 0 0 0
Meggs c 2 1 0 0 Nielsen 1b 2 0 0 0
Chestnut lf 2 1 1 0 Bender ss 3 0 0 1
Dorsett rf 2 0 2 2 Bruckner lf 3 0 0 0
Reed 1b 3 0 0 0 Rosenbm cf 1 0 0 0
Luken dh 3 0 1 0 DeMarco 2b 3 0 0 0
Peabody 2b 3 0 0 0 JCassella dh 3 0 0 0
Ferrell cf 3 0 0 0 Rice c 3 0 1 0
Totals 25 2 4 2 Totals 23 1 1 1
Wayne Newton Post 346 200 000 0 — 2
Bristol Post 143 000 001 0 — 1
E — C.Cassella, Odum. LOB — WN 5, Bristol 5. 2B — Luken, Rice. SB — Rosenbaum 2, Dorsett. SH — Dorsett.
IP H R ER BB SO
Wayne Newton Post 346
Walker (W, 3-0) 7 1 1 0 3 9
Bristol Post 143
Huxford (L, 2-1) 7 4 2 2 2 4
WP — Huxford. HBP — by Walker (Nielsen). T — 1:36.
Next games — Bristol (7-4, 2-1 in tournament) plays Lafayette at 5 p.m. today. Wayne Newton Post 346 (9-5, 3-0) plays Evansville at 7:30 p.m.
Wayne Newton
Post 346 Terre
Haute Invitational
Standings — Terre Haute Wayne Newton Post 346 3-0, Bristol Post 143 2-1, Lafayette Post 11 1-1, Evansville Pate Post 265 0-2, Crown Point Post 20 0-2.
Thursday’s games
Terre Haute 8, Lafayette 3
Bristol 7, Evansville 6
Terre Haute 6, Crown Point 0
Friday’s games
Bristol 12, Crown Point 2, 5 innings
Lafayette 8, Evansville 2
Terre Haute 2, Bristol 1
Today’s games
Lafayette vs. Crown Point, 11 a.m.
Evansville vs. Crown Point, 1:30 p.m.
Bristol vs. Lafayette, 5 p.m.
Evansville vs. Terre Haute, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday’s games
Third-place game, noon
Championship, 2:30 p.m.
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Wayne Newton slides to 2-1 tourney victory
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