The Chillicothe Cardinals American Legion baseball team ended a six-game losing streak Saturday afternoon at “June” Shaffer Memorial Park, whipping the Trenton Blue Jays twice by scores of 13-0 and 8-5. The first game, scheduled for nine innings as it was a District 2 game, ended on the 10-run-lead rule after 61/2 innings. The second game went its slated five innings.
    With the pair of victories, the Vern R. Glick Post No. 25-sponsored Cardinals improved their overall record to 4-7 while moving to 2-2 in the district.

    The first game was pretty much tucked safely in the Cardinals’ hip pocket from early on.
    After the Post 31-hosted Blue Jays couldn’t cash in on back-to-back, two-out singles by T.J. Heitz and Trent Ireland, Chillicothe threw a big crooked number on the board to give pitcher Alex Singleton plenty of elbow room.
    The Cardinals bats were booming from the outset against Trenton starting and losing pitcher Rickey Wilson.
Leadoff hitter Bryce Young plugged the gap in left-center for a triple and Tyson Blattner followed with an RBI double down the right field line. The lefthanded-hitting Singleton then emulated both previous hitters - going the other way like righty-swinger Blattner and to left-center field like Young – as he doubled home a second Chillicothe run.
After an error by Trenton allowed Singleton to score on Colin Parker’s grounder to shortstop, Cardinals catcher Jacob Rockhold teed off on a Wilson offering and lifted it up and over the fence in left for a two-run homer that kayoed the Blue Jays starter.

    With the generous early support, Singleton settled in and allowed Trenton only two more hits the rest of the way, finishing with a four-hit shutout.
The right-handed high school senior-to-be walked four and struck out six in going the route.
    Chillicothe’s attack required him to throw only seven innings by adding a run in the second when Parker’s groundout plated Young, six in the fifth, and one in the sixth.
    The fifth saw four of the first five Cardinals to come up – Parker, Rockhold, Connor Lindley, and Zach Dunn – single, Lindley picking up an RBI. Then, with two out and two on, Young launched a roundtripper to left to put the home team in position to win early.
For insurance in that regard, Blattner then tripled and scored on Singleton’s hit before, in the sixth, Dunn singled home Rockhold, who had doubled.
    For the game, Young finished three for four with a homer, triple, and single, three runs driven in, and three scored. Rockhold homered, doubled, and singled and was robbed his other at-bat, scoring three times with two RBIs. Blake Stephens, Lindley, Dunn, Singleton, and Blattner had two hits apiece in the 17-hit Cardinals onslaught.

    Game two, featuring many of the teams’ reserves, saw both starting pitchers hammered without pitching into the second inning, but Chillicothe able to do the most damage and eventually win.
    After T.J. Ireland’s two-run double, Ross Oram’s two-bagger right behind that, and then Bryan Johnson’s two-run home run over the left field barrier put the visiting Blue Jays on top 5-0 after one, the Cardinals knocked Ireland out without his retiring a batter.
    Down a handful, Chillicothe went right to its task as Young drew a leadoff walk and, after he stole second, Rockhold doubled him in. Casey Brock then got a free pass on a 3-2 pitch and Jake Meyers singled in Rockhold, sending Brock to third and Ireland from the hill in favor of David Claycomb.
    The new hurler walked Chillicothe starting pitcher Justin VanHoutan to load the bases and a passed ball allowed a third Cardinals tally to cross the plate. Claycomb got the next two batters on called third strikes to move to the precipice of preserving the Trenton lead, but couldn’t escape.
    A.J. VanHoutan singled in Meyers and No. 9 hitter Zach Douglas stroked a two-run single, scoring both VanHoutans, giving Chillicothe the lead.
    Zack Dunn took over from J. VanHoutan on the mound to begin the second and shut out Trenton the final four innings to earn the victory.
    Tanner Baker’s RBI double added another Cardinals run in their second and a Trenton error let Brock come in with the eighth and final Chillicothe marker in the fourth.
    Brock had Post No. 25’s only multi-hit game in the finale, going two for two plus a walk and scoring all three times.