Staffen, Blum homer as Post 150 keeps rolling

BONNE TERRE – One evening after lining a game-winning single in extra innings, Kellen Blum highlighted an immediate eruption by the Ste. Genevieve Senior Legion baseball team.

Blum homered as the second batter of the game, and Grant Staffen crushed a massive three-run shot on Wednesday at Post 150 routed district rival Bonne Terre 15-2 in five innings.

Ste. Genevieve (13-6, 8-2) opened with five consecutive hits – chasing opposing starter Shelby Lee after four batters – and handed winning hurler Derek Morganthaler an initial four-run advantage.

Staffen doubled before Blum connected deep to left-center field. Tyler Blum and Keaton Boyer followed with singles, and Brady Boyer made it 4-0 with an RBI double.

Post 150 notched five more runs (two earned) in the second against reliever Cody Hubbard, sending 10 batters to the plate with the help of two defensive errors.

Tyler Blum added to his 3-for-4 effort with an RBI single that resumed the onslaught, and RBI doubles from Keaton Boyer, Chad Donze and Chase Koller made it 9-1.

Koller made two superb defensive plays at third base, diving to catch a line drive after tracking an earlier foul ball to the fence with a reaching grab.

Kellen Blum finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored, including a leadoff triple in the third, and denied a potential Bonne Terre hit with a tumbling grab in left field.

Morganthaler worked four innings and scattered two hits while striking out two. Post 83 secured its lone tally against him when a ground ball from Lee enabled Karter Kekec to cross the plate.

Pinch-hitter Bryce Palmer singled against Carter Dunn, and Koller collected his second hit of the night before Staffen launched a towering drive that landed far beyond the left-field barrier.

Tyler Blum singled home Kellen Blum later in the fourth, and three Post 83 errors in the fifth tacked on an unearned insurance run.

Layton Mallow, Clayton Chandler and Hubbard singled for Bonne Terre (1-7, 1-7). Noah Mesey provided a gem with a diving catch in center field.

Dunn pitched the last 3 1/3 innings and fanned two while yielding seven hits. The teams are scheduled for a rematch next week at Yanks Field.