Eureka falls in Zone Tournament final to Festus

Eureka will look back on its third trip to the Zone Tournament in as many years as an opportunity missed.

Eureka lost to Festus 7-2 in the tournament championship game Sunday in Cape Girardeau. Both of its tourney losses came at the hands of the defending state champions at Capaha Park Field.

Post 177’s season came to a close at 35-9.

“We didn’t play all that sharp,” Eureka coach Joe Fortner said. “We couldn’t get over the hump.”

On Sunday, Festus pitcher Ryan Yuengel did damage on the mound, hurling eight strong innings to stymie the Eureka bats. The defense behind him was good, too, as third baseman Nick Portell and second baseman Nathan Kaminski doubled off Eureka baserunners on line drive outs. Nathan Kaminksi and shortstop Ryan Brown also turned four double plays.

“They always play good defense,” Fortner said. “To me, Festus is known for its solid base running and good defense.”

At the plate on Sunday, Yuengel recorded three hits and drove in three runs but once again Logan Bone was in the middle of it all. He came through with the game-winning two-RBI hit in the seventh. His big weekend didn’t go unnoticed as he was named the most valuable player of the tournament.

“We are so scrappy, just like last year’s team. Everybody overlooks us,” said Bone, adding the talent might not be off the charts like last year’s team. “But that’s just not what the postseason is about. It is about who wants to win it the most and who wants to just keep going. And we really do want to keep going. We want to see what the weather is like in Spokane, Wash.”

The two rivals went against each other in the winner’s bracket championship.

The game featured four lead changes, and, after a three-run seventh inning by Eureka, Post 253 trailed 8-7.

But, in the top of the eighth, No. 9 hitter Kaminski drew a one-out walk and Bone knocked Kaminski in with a triple. Neel then followed with a two-out single – his fifth hit of the game – to score Bone.

Neel, who stole second and third, was then knocked in by Yuengel for an insurance run. Travis Hayes closed out the game on the mound and Festus held off Eureka for a 9-7 victory.

“It was very frustrating,” Fortner said. “We had opportunities to blow it open and could have done a lot more damage.”

Eureka handed Cape both its tournament losses, including Sunday’s 11-6 decision in the loser’s bracket final of the five-team, double-elimination event at Capaha Field.

Eureka took advantage of a second-inning error to plate two unearned runs.

It was 5-0 before Cape finally got on the board in the fifth inning, but a brilliant defensive play prevented Post 63 from perhaps having a big rally. A walk, two singles and an outfield error made it 5-1 and left runners on first and third with one out. A ground ball up the middle looked like it would reach center field for another hit but shortstop Stephen Kohler made a diving stop behind second base. He stepped on the bag for a force and fired to first to complete the double play.

Brandon Weir and Adam Driggs both had three of Eureka’s 13 hits. Phil Bodenschatz pitched 6 1/3 innings for the victory. Austin Lewis finished up for a save.

There is no denying that it was a banner season for Eureka. In District 10, Vogt was named MVP, Kohler earned the league batting title, Patrick Jacobs was named pitcher of the year and Fortner was named manager of the year.

“This team had the ability to go further,” Fortner said. “This is the toughest zone in the state. It was like a mini state tournament. I thought we would move. I would like to do it all over again.”

n Correspondent Jerome Boettcher contributed to this report.