KANSAS CITY, Missouri - Festus, Missouri won the 2009 Missouri American Legion State Baseball Tournament with a 7-1 win over West O'Fallon on Saturday, August 1 at Hidden Valley Field in Blue Springs.

Winning manager Pat Bone visited with Rick Cole of TEAM Sports after the game, and you can hear that interview in the archive section of this website, as well as the complete final game and all the games of the 2009 State Tournament.

Saturday, Festus's Tommie Branham had a 3 run double in the first inning to get the team off to a fast start, and the pitching of Andrew Wilson (8 innings, 1 run, 5 hits, 6 strikeouts)kept a good West O'Fallon squad off balance. The Jaguars, who had won their way to the championship through the loser's bracket after a first round loss, turned two double plays in the game and had three hits from Chris King.

Festus advances to the Legion Regional tournament with a 34-3 record, while West O'Fallon ends their season at 33-13.

Here is a recap of Friday's games:

Game 1: Festus 7, West Plains 6 (winner's bracket): A Matt Stites sac fly in the bottom of the 8th proved to be the winning run, scoring just before the final out of the inning was recorded at 2nd base on the same play. West Plains took a 3-0 lead in the first inning, only to see Festus rally to lead at one point 6-3. A two-run West Plains top of the 8th inning tied the game before Stites' sac fly put Festus in the Championship round. Skylar Townsend had two home runs for West Plains.

Game 2: West O'Fallon 16, Sedalia 9 (loser's bracket): West O'Fallon had 14 hits and Sedalia had 13 hits, but 10 walks and 3 hit batters by Sedalia pitching proved to be too much to overcome as the Travelers bow out of the tournament. Zach Loraine and Robert Figueira each had 3 rbi for West O'Fallon, and Brandon Smith added a solo home run as the Jaguars advanced in the loser's bracket.

Game 3: West O'Fallon 8, West Plains 7 (loser's bracket): West O'Fallon gained a berth in the championship round as they with stood a 6 run West Plains rally that tied the game at 7-all going to the 9th inning. West O'Fallon’s Ben Purnell tripled to lead off the top of the 9th, then was squeezed home by Chris King with one out to provide the winning run. Michael Nickrent pitched two scoreless innings of relief to get the win, as he came in to shut the door on West Plains in the 8th after their rally, and had a 1-2-3 9th inning.

Thursday's games:

Game 1: Festus 5, Sedalia 0: Matt Stietz (8ip, 0r, 2h, 8k) and Aaron Mayer combine for shutout; Stietz, JT Lovelace and Owen Conway each had 2 hits in a 9-hit attack for Festus.

Game 2: West Plains 5, West O'Fallon 3: West Plains scored 4 runs in the 2nd inning, highlighted by a solo HR from Asa Eggly, and held on for the win. West O'Fallon pitcher Christian Hull fanned 13 in 7 innings in taking the loss, his first of the year.


TEAM Sports produces live internet audio coverage of William Jewell College sports and Rockhurst University basketball, as well as the Blue Springs American Legion Wood Bat Invitational. TEAM Sports also provides television coverage of Blue Springs and Blue Springs South high school sports action through the Blue Springs School District. This year, live audio will be available for BSSD broadcasts of 30 events.