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Brilliant Post 573 puts the pieces together with win over Toronto

LEAPS AND BOUNDS — Brilliant Post 573’s Anthony Coggins jumps to avoid a throw to Toronto Post 86 catcher Conrad Gump on his way to scoring a run during the first inning of Thursday’s game at the Knights Baseball Complex. Also shown is Toronto’s Brandon Boyd. (Photo by Andrew Grimm)

TORONTO — Brilliant Post 573 coach Keith Rejonis has been waiting for his team to come together in the early portion of the season. Thursday night at Toronto’s Knights Baseball Complex it did just that to knock off Post 86, 6-3, for its second win of the season.

“That is a quality ball club,” Rejonis said of Toronto. “We will take this win and hold our head up high any way we can get it. These kids are motivated and we’re ready to come back out and play any team that is out there. Being the underdogs this season while re-establishing this program, I think our name is getting around because these kids are here to play.

“These guys are supporting each other. There are good friendships coming out of this team. There are some good leaders on this team and they pick each other up. We’ve got about six communities on this club and its a good ball club.”

Rejonis felt that his team gained confidence from an earlier meeting with Post 86, despite being on the short end of that one.

“We played them one other time and they got us 6-0, but we competed with them,” Rejonis said. “I knew we could compete with them if the bats were there, and they were. We built a bunch of confidence in that game. Not one kid put their head down.”

Dakota Swearingen, a former member of Post 86, threw a complete game and the Brilliant (2-5) defense came up big behind him with runners in scoring position, turning a pair of key double plays.

“Coach Rejonis and coach Mickey (Nest) have given me a great opportunity here to play this summer,” Swearingen said. “When they told me I was on the mound, I felt confident because I pitched on this mound my senior year (at Toronto). The guys behind me fielding the ball played a heck of a game. Gabe (Rejonis) made about six or seven big plays at shortstop, the outfielders did a great job tracking the ball down and my catcher (Anthony Coggins) called a great game.

“We are seeing now what our team can do once it came together. It took us a couple of games to come together but we’re getting hot at the right time.”

At the plate for Post 573, Mason Goddard cranked three hits with an RBI and Collin Homes had a pair of hits with three RBIs.

Brilliant’s efforts were aided by four costly Toronto (6-6) errors.

“It was not one of our better outings,” Post 86 coach Steve Sninchak said. “You are never going to win a game with that many errors.”

Another thing that hurt Post 86 was leaving a total of nine men on base, including several in scoring position.

“We did not get the big hits that we have been getting,” Sninchak said. “We had the runners on, but that is how baseball falls sometimes. You hit the ball and you don’t get on when you need to. It seemed like when we did get a big hit, they made a nice defensive play. The big sticks today just didn’t have it.”

Post 573 got off to a quick offensive start in the bottom of the first after Swearingen worked around an error to put up a zero in the top half. Gabe Rejonis and Goddard hit back-to-back singles, then Coggins reached on the first Toronto error. Holmes followed up with a two-run single, and all four players crossed home plate before the inning was over as Matt Nest drove in Holmes with an RBI single of his own to give Brilliant what eventually turned out to be the winning run.

The score remained 4-0 until the fourth inning when Austen Rejonis reached on an error and scored when Coggins reached on another mishap with two outs.

Post 86 battled back to make it interesting in the top of the sixth. Zac Berger led off the inning with a pinch-hit single and Nick Chetock drew a walk, then both men scored on A.J. Clegg’s two-out, two-run single to make it 5-2. Zac Gulczynski drove in Clegg before Post 573 could get the third out, making it a 5-3 game.

Brilliant, however, added some important insurance runs in the bottom half to thwart the comeback.

Gabe Rejonis reached on an error, then scored when Goddard singled for a third time in the game. Holmes then drove in Goddard to push the lead back to four and Swearingen worked around issuing a free pass to lead off the top of the seventh with three consecutive fly outs to close it out.

“He has tenacity and he wanted to fight and compete,” coach Rejonis said of Swearingen. “He gave me the green light and wanted to close it out. He knows how it is in Legion ball. He can pitch damage control with guys on. Balls fall sometimes. They had a couple of runners on when they did and they scored a couple runs, but that’s baseball.”

Brilliant is back in action tonight at Bill Mazeroski Field when it hosts Barnesville. Toronto picks back up at the Knights Baseball Complex with a doubleheader against Bridgeport, W.Va., on Sunday.

GAME NOTES

¯The game was originally scheduled to be played at Buckeye Local High School’s Bill Mazeroski Field, but had to be moved due to poor field conditions due to the recent rainfall, meaning that even though the game was played in Toronto, it was a home game for Post 573.

Brilliant 7, Toronto 3 (Played at Knights Baseball Complex in Toronto)

Toronto 0-0-0 0-0-3 0 — 3 9 4

Brilliant 4-0-0 1-0-2 x — 6 9 1

TORONTO (6-6): Boyd (LP, 4IP, 5R (3ER), 6H, 2K, 1BB, 1 HBP), Torma (2IP, 2R (1ER), 2K, 1BB) and Gump.

BRILLIANT (2-5): Swearingen (WP, CG, 3R (3ER), 9H, 2K, 2BB, 3HBP) and Coggins.

TWO OR MORE HITS: Toronto (Meek 2); Brilliant (Goddard 3, Holmes 2). DOUBLES: None. TRIPLES: None. HOME RUNS: None. RBIs: Toronto (Gulczynski, Clegg 2); Brilliant (Goddard, Holmes 3, Nest).

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