HANNIBAL — Home plate proved to be elusive for Hannibal American Legion Post 55 in Wednesday’s home game.
Part of the reason was strong pitching from Washington American Legion Post 218 and another cause was the inability of Hannibal to get key hits with runners on.
“They are hitting the ball really well, but we just haven’t been able to string anything together,” said Hannibal assistant coach Mike Jones. “We just haven’t been able to string anything together.”
The end result was a 7-0 shutout win for Washington over Hannibal.
Washington jumped on Hannibal starting pitcher Colby Cook for a pair of runs in the first inning and never looked back.
Cook settled in after that to pitch six innings with two strikeouts and three earned run.
“(Cook was) throwing strikes,” Jones said. “He comes out and usually i pretty effective. That ball team (Washington) hits the ball really well. Colby gets the ball over the strike zone, but we kind of know where his limits are throughout the game.”
Gavin Greving pitched the final inning in relief for Hannibal.
Hannibal had Cook and Dylan Ross lead off the bottom of the first inning with walk, but were unable to capitalize.
Ross then singled in the third inning with two outs and stole second base before the following batter flew out to end the frame.
Matthew Miller hit a two-out single in the fourth and was stranded.
Hannibal had something cooking in the fifth inning when Lucas Edelman walked and Camden Fisher singled, only to see Washington retire the next three batters.
Carter Jones hit a one-out double in the sixth inning and was stranded.
Carter Hawkinson led off the seventh inning with a walk and was bunted over to second base, but Hannibal once again was unable to capitalize.
“We just got done telling the guys there at any time if we had one hit in three of those innings, we have three runs on the board,” Jones said. “The problem is that we need to string those hits together.”
Hannibal (2-8) will host a doubleheader against St. Charles and Pacific on Saturday, with the first game starting at 11 a.m.
“Got to pick up a district win somewhere,” Jones said. “Not sure when the last time Hannibal hasn’t been in that district tournament, so we are going to make sure we are in the hunt.”