Teutopolis Post 924 Wins Firecracker Classic Title

Teutopolis Post 924 claimed the championship of the 31st Annual Mattoon Firecracker Classic Sunday.

T-town and Danville Post 210 actually finished in a 2-2 tie when the game was delayed because of lightning and then finally canceled when rain came and stayed. The game was called and a coin toss decided the first and second place trophies. It was the best two out of three with Danville winning the first toss and T-town the second. T-town then took home the first place trophy on the final coin toss.

In Saturday games, Teutopolis edged Macon County 3-2 then defeated Clinton, Ind. 12-2. That moved T-town to the Sunday semifinals and finals.

In the semifinal game, Teutopolis beat Ford-Iroqouis Post 432 6-4. T-town took a 2-0 lead in the first inning then pushed that to 4-0 in the second. Ford-Iroqois tallied a run in the third and two more in the fifth to pull within 4-3.

But T-town came back with two more in the sixth to move the score to 6-3. Ford-Iroquois tallied a run in the seventh and had the game-tying run at first with two outs. T-town got the final out for the victory.

Danville handed Lincoln a 9-4 loss to move into the title contest with T-town.

Danville went up 1-0 in the first inning. T-town took the lead on a two-run single by John Kreke. Danville then tied the game in the fifth.

Teutopolis had a runner on second base in the sixth but couldn't bring him home. Danville also had a runner on second in the bottom of the sixth but couldn't score.

T-town opened the seventh with a single and walk but Danville once again got out of the jam. Davnillle then loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame. But Post 924 got out of the jam unscathed. And that's where the weather turned bad.

Effingham Post 120 suffered a loss in Saturday's first game to Lincoln 7-2.

Lane Koenig worked the mound for Effingham, going seven innings and allowing three earned runs, six hits and one walk while striking out 10.

Effingham jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first when Blake White singled and Reid Kocher singled, plating Bryar Jansen.

But Lincoln came back to tie the score in the fifth then tally six runs in the eighth.

In the second contest, Effingham edged Moultrie Douglas, 13-12 in six innings. The teams combined for 19 hits including four extra base hits. The game was back-and-forth heading into the sixth with five lead changes.

 Effingham pulled out the win thanks to a strong sixth inning. Effingham scored on an RBI single by Reid Kocher, plating Blake White for the walk-off victory.

Kocher had three singles and two RBI while Koenig had a single, triple and two RBI, Ethan Greene two singles and an RBI and Jansen, two singles and an RBI.

Effingham Post 120 now has a 14-8 record.

In other Saturday games, Danville downed Shelby County 11-1. Shelby County then blanked Moultrie-Douglas 10-0. Piatt County beat Clay County, Ind. 6-4, Lincoln edged Rantoul 3-2, Danville won over Clinton, Ind. 5-1, Piatt County pounded Robinson 19-10, Ford-Iroquois edged Mattoon 9-8, Clay County beat Mattoon 7-5 and Ford-Iroquois downed Rantoul 4-1. Macon County vs. Robinson was rained out.

At Mattoon

Game One

Lincoln                   000    010    06    --    7-9-1

Effingham             100    000    01    --    2-5-5

WP -- Steiner. LP -- Koenig.

Lincoln -- Hopp, 2 singles, 1 RBI; Eigenbrod, single, 1 RBI; Coggins, single; Aeilts, single, triple, 3 RBI; Thomas, 2 singles, 1 RBI; Steiner, single; Newton, 1 RBI

Effingham Post 120 -- Jansen, single; White, single; Kocher, single, 1 RBI; Puckett, double; Greene, single

Game Two

Moultrie Douglas           035    130    --    12-  7-6

Effingham                       271    201    --    13-12-6

WP -- Miller. LP -- Cothran.

Moultrie Douglas -- Hoel, 2 singles, double, 3 RBI; Meinhold, single; Mendoza, single; Williams, double, 3 RBI; Craddock, 1 RBI; Sementi, double, 3 RBI

Effingham Post 120 -- Jansen, 2 singles, 1 RBI; Kocher, 3 singles, 2 RBI; Zuber, single, 1 RBI; Koenig, single, triple, 2 RBI; Bateman, 1 RBI; Gibson, single, 1 RBI; Utz, single, 1 RBI; Greene, 2 singles, 1 RBI