Blue Jays Have Solid Showing In Sedalia

The Trenton Blue Jays AA American Legion baseball team traveled to Sedalia over the weekend to compete in the annual Sedalia Wood Bat Tournament. The Blue Jays went 2-1 in pool play, just missing a chance to play for the tournament title.
Trenton opened the tournament against the Blue Springs Elks. The ’Jays found themselves down early as the Elks ran out to a 3-1 lead in the first inning. Trenton trailed 6-1 after the second inning, but the Blue Jays’ bats came to life in the third inning. Trenton plated four runs to cut the lead to 6-5. Both teams scored two runs in the fourth and were scoreless in the fifth. The sixth inning would be the final frame as the time limit would come into effect, but Trenton plated three runs to take its first lead of the game. Blue Springs answered with one run, but that was all as the Blue Jays picked up the win by a final score of 10-9.
Jared Brundage was the winning pitcher for the Blue Jays, throwing all six innings and allowing 10 hits while striking out six. At the plate, Matt Jungles had a pair of singles and Adam Milburn had a double and a single.
Game two saw Trenton suffer its only loss during the tournament. The Blue Jays fell 6-0 to Sedalia in a game that saw Trenton muster just four hits. Craig Richardson was the losing pitcher for Trenton.
The Blue Jays reversed their fortunes in what turned out to be their final game of the tournament. Trenton scored two runs in the second and another in the third and that was more than enough to defeat the Independence Indians 3-1. Wyatt Thomas was the winning pitcher for Trenton, throwing a gem. The Blue Jays’ hurler fired all seven innings, allowing one run on just three hits while striking out nine batters. Brundage and Matt Safely each hit a double in the game to lead the Blue Jays’ offense.
Following pool play, Trenton stood tied for the top spot in the pool with two other squads at 2-1. Head-to-head records could not be used in a three-way tie and the second tiebreaker was runs allowed. With 16 runs allowed in the tournament, Trenton was the odd team out. One team went on to play the other pool champion for the tournament championship and the other played for third. The Blue Jays, though, headed home after the tiebreaker and returned to Trenton with a solid showing from the tournament. The 2-1 record was a vast improvement on last year’s effort, when Trenton didn’t win a game.
The Blue Jays will now turn their attention to Lawson, which they will face on Tuesday at home at Burleigh Grimes Field in Trenton. Action starts at 6 p.m. with a AA game between the two squads and a AAA game will follow.