TILTON — The TB24 Memorial Wooden Bat Tournament has always been the start of the legion baseball summer for the Post 210 Speakers
All the games played in June are considered preseason contests getting ready for the most important month of baseball on the legion calendar.
If this past weekend is any indication, it could be a short month for the Speakers.
Post 210 won just one game out of four in the TB24 Tournament this past weekend, making the semifinals based on a runs allowed tiebreaker and then the Speakers stumbled in the semifinals, losing to Terre Haute 7-1.
“I feel like we came in really unfocused today,’’ Post 210 manager Brent Hart said. “We had guys not taking signs. We had guys on their cell phones in the dugout. This should be a bigger deal to those guys.
“I’m kind of disappointed.’’
In the previous five years of the TB24 Tournament, the Speakers have claimed the title four times — the lone exception was 2022 when Danville lost to Terre Haute in the semifinals. Post 210 regrouped to win the Fourth Division title and take third in the state tournament.
“It’s all about maturity,’’ Hart said. “It’s time to lock in. We are going into the postseason in less than two weeks, and we know better.
“There were a lot of people that put in a lot of time this weekend to host this tournament. There is other stuff going on with the Fourth of July and with families. If that’s all the effort these players can give, it’s just disappointing.’’
Hart credited his assistant coaches, Steven Remole, Emmet Black and Ethan Edwards along with Andy Moore, Jeff Spicer, Steven Waller and Lance Wichtowski for their efforts this weekend on field preparation.
But, ultimately, his team on the field just failed to convert baserunners into actual runs on the scoreboard.
Post 210 loaded the bases in the first, second and seventh innings and failed to score a single run in any one of those frames.
“It’s quite simple, we were not hitting when we should with guys on base. That cost us this game,’’ said Hart, whose team left nine on base, hit into two double plays and had a runner thrown out trying to steal. “We have a few high IQ guys that just made poor decisions.
“There are a few guys that have been around this program for a couple years and they are pressing because they don’t want to disappoint the program.’’
Still, it was a completely useless weekend for Post 210.
The Speakers (19-12) bounced back from a pair of losses on Friday in pool play with an impressive 16-2 win over Crawfordsville Saturday night to play themselves in the semifinals.
Danville, Crawfordsville and Rock Island all finished pool play with 1-2 records and the first tiebreaker is runs allowed. Danville allowed 10, Rock Island allowed 20 and Crawfordsville allowed 25.
“We came in Saturday night. We knew what we needed to do and we took care of the job,’’ Hart said. “We just didn’t do that in the other three games this weekend.’’
Post 210 catcher Drew Wichtowski went 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs and six RBIs, while outfielder Jerrius Atkinson went 4-for-4 with four RBIs.
Starting pitcher Jameson Remole struck out seven in six innings, while allowing two runs on three hits.
Post 210 has another tournament this upcoming weekend in Crawfordsville, Ind., and two more regular-season games before starting the Fourth Division Tournament on July 22nd.
“We need to get ourselves locked in,’’ Hart said. “I’m thinking we are going to have a couple of long practices this week to get things cleaned up.’’
TB24 Tournament At Gruber Park, Tilton Sunday’s linescore Terre Haute 7, Post 210 Speakers 1
Post 210 000 100 0 — 1 4 1
Terre Haute 200 122 x — 7 11 1
WP — Ty Stultz. LP — Pedro Rangel IV. Two or more hits — Post 210: Cian Moore 2. Terre Haute: Stultz 2, Riley Huckaby 2, Jackson Pierce 2.2B — Post 210: Jordan Johnson, Drew Wichtowski. Terre Haute: Stultz. HR — Terre Haute: Huckaby, Austin Black. RBIs — Post 210: Johnson. Terre Haute: Stultz 2, Black 2, Huckaby, Caden Schrader, Isaak Osborne.
Records — Post 210 Speakers 19-12 overall. Terre Haute 21-5 overall.
Saturday’s linescore Post 210 Speakers 16, Crawfordsville 2
Post 210 501 136 — 16 14 0
Crawfordsville 101 000 — 2 3 2
WP — Jameson Remole. LP — Cade Cole. Two or more hits — Post 210: Jarrius Atkinson 4, Ryker Small 3, Drew Wichtowski 2, Zach Russell 2. 2B — Post 210: Atkinson, Braxton Waller, Jaydon Riggs. HR — Post 210: Wichtowski 2. RBIs — Post 210: Wichtowski 6, Atkinson 4, Small 2, Waller, Jordan Johnson, Conlan Moore. Crawfordsville: Christian Holland 2.
Records — Post 210 Speakers 19-11 overall. Crawfordsville 14-8 overall.
TB24 Tournament All times Central At Gruber Park, Tilton
Pool A — Barrington 3-0, Post 210 Speakers 1-2, Crawfordsville (Ind.) 1-2, Rock Island 1-2. Post 210 wins first tiebreaker — runs allowed
Pool B — Terre Haute 3-0, Harrisburg 2-1, Alton 1-2, Wheaton 0-3.
Friday’s games
Game 1 — Rock Island 7, Post 210 Speakers 6 (8 innings)
Game 2 — Terre Haute 2, Alton 0
Game 3 — Barrington 9, Crawfordsville 2
Game 4 — Harrisburg 3, Wheaton 1
Game 5 — Barrington 1, Post 210 Speakers 0
Game 6 — Harrisburg 4, Alton 0
Saturday’s games
Game 7 — Terre Haute 2, Wheaton 0
Game 8 — Alton 6, Wheaton 5
Game 9 — Crawfordsville 2, Rock Island 0
Game 10 — Terre Haute 10, Harrisburg 0
Game 11 — Barrington 12, Rock Island 2
Game 12 — Post 210 Speakers 16, Crawfordsville 2
Sunday’s games
Semifinal No. 1 — Harrisburg 8, Barrington 6
Semifinal No. 2 — Terre Haute 7, Danville 1
Championship — Harrisburg 9, Terre Haute 2