Post 371 gets back in win column against Rivals (2024)

SCHUYLER- For the first time in 13 days, the Valparaiso Post 371 Seniors got back in the win column against the Platte River Rivals Post 47 and 340 on the road on June 21. In the victory, Valparaiso limited the Rivals to just one hit in a 10-0 shutout.

Early on, Post 371 didn’t waste any time jumping on the board first in the top of the first.

With one out, Hunter Sykes worked a walk and then proceeded to steal second base. An error on a hit by Jacob Schultz back to the pitcher, allowed Sykes to get home and make it a 1-0 game.

Next up was Owen Kreikemeier who grounded out to third base knocking in Schultz and making it a 2-0 contest.

In the top of the third, Hunter Sykes singled to left field to lead things off. After a pair of strikeouts, he got home to put Valparaiso up 3-0 on a single to center by Ben Kliment.

The two-out magic continued for Post 371 in the fourth when Blake Maxson and Kyle Peterson single to center and right field. Another single, this time on infield from Sykes platted both baserunners and put Valparaiso in front by a score of 5-0.

Sykes used his speed to burn up the base pads and stole home on a wild pitch that got away from the catcher.

In the top of the sixth, the pitching for the Platte River Rivals struggled significantly. They walked four batters and hit a batter which resulted in four runs being put up by Valparaiso.

Clinging to a 10-run lead in the bottom half of the inning, Kliment and Schultz teamed up to get Post 371 to the finish line and pick up the victory.

Pitching 5.2 innings and getting the win as the starter was Kliment. He gave up just one hit and struck out eight batters. Shultz came on for 0.1 innings in relief and surrendered no runs.

Getting two hits and driving in three runs for Valparaiso was Sykes. Both knocking in one run apiece were Kreikemeier and Kliment.

On June 19, Valparaiso played their first road game of the week against Waterloo-Valley Post 58 Seniors. In a close contest, the Wingnuts held on to beat Post 371 by a final of 6-4.

Valparaiso gained the early lead at 2-1 thanks to a hit by Kreikemeier in the first that an error was made on and then a single from Devin Watkins in the third that drove in Sykes.

With two runners on and one out in the fifth, Post 371 increased their edge out to 4-1. The runs were driven in by Kreikemeier on a single to left field and Watkins on a groundout back to the pitcher.

In the bottom of the fifth, W-V started on a comeback trail with two runs that pulled them within one run of Valparaiso. They tacked on three more runs in the sixth and grabbed their first lead of the game by two.

During their final at-bat in the top of the seventh, Valparaiso grounded out, flew out, and then popped out to end the game.

Watkins led the way for Post 371 at the plate with one hit and two runs batted in. Getting one hit and knocking in one run was Kreikemeier.

Pitching all six innings for Valparaiso in the loss was Peterson who gave up four earned runs and struck out two batters.

This week Post 371 played the ETC Knights at home on June 25 and then at Springfield on June 26. They return home to play Louisville/Weeping Water at 8 p.m. on June 30.