BROOKFIELD — Colin Parker threw a complete game and went three for five at the plate to lead the way as the Chillicothe Cardinals American Legion baseball team earned an 8-3 victory over Brookfield in District 2 play at Rusk Park Sunday.
   Righthander Parker kept Brookfield off the scoreboard until the seventh inning of the nine-inning contest. By then, he and his teammates had gained a 4-0 lead.
After Brookfield closed to within one after seven, the Cardinals (5-8 overall, 3-2 in District 2) tacked on a pair of runs in both the eighth and ninth frames to regain breathing room.
   In the second, non-district game of Sunday’s doubleheader, Brookfield gained a 3-1 triumph.
   Chillicothe is due to make up it June 21 District 2 rainout against Unionville Wednesday evening at Shaffer Park.
   In order to assure that all regular-season district games are played before setting the bracket for the district tournament which Chillicothe will host in late July, Brookfield and Unionville will make up their rained-out district contest at Shaffer Park Wednesday, as well, confirms Brent Young, Cardinals manager.
   Brookfield and Unionville will play a 9-inning game, starting at 6 p.m. with the Chillicothe-Unionville game, also slated for nine innings, to follow.

   Sunday against Brookfield, single runs produced from two-out, none-on situations allowed the Vern R. Glick Post No. 25-sponsored Cardinals to build just enough lead that, despite Brookfield’s three-run seventh, they never trailed.
   In the top of the first, Alex Singleton singled after the first two batters were retired, stole second base, and darted home on Parker’s basehit to right field.
   Chillicothe doubled its lead in the second when Bryce Young got a two-out hit and came all the way around to score from first on Tyson Blattner’s long single to right-center field.
   It stayed 2-0, Cardinals, until the sixth.
   After the first two hitters were once more retired, No. 8 hitter Tanner Baker drew a walk from Brookfield starting and losing pitcher Colby Bailey. An error by Bailey allowed Zach Douglas to also get aboard with Baker reaching third. With Young at the plate, a pitch eluded the Brookfield catcher and Baker scored, making it 3-0.
   Blattner singled to begin the Chillicothe seventh, but was cut down trying to steal. After Singleton flied out, Parker singled to center and substitute catcher A.J. VanHoutan drove a double into the gap in spacious left-center field to bring him around. VanHoutan had entered the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when Cardinals starter Jacob Rockhold sustained an injury and had to leave.
   With Parker seemingly in command, having allowed no runs on only two hit through six innings, the 4-0 Chillicothe lead seemed comfortable, but that changed dramatically in the home half of the seventh.
   Perhaps a bit winded from hustling home from first on VanHoutan’s double, the Chillicothe pitcher began the Brookfield seventh by issuing passes to Seth Mendenhall and Michael Wills. While passing Wills, he threw two pitches past the backup receiver, sending Mendenhall to third. When Wills reached, he quickly stole second base to put two men in scoring position with no outs.
   Cord Allen’s single to left ended the shutout, plating Men-denhall, and another walk – this time to No. 9 hitter Philip McHugh loaded the bases for leadoff hitter Bailey.
With the lead now in serious jeopardy, Parker got a comebacker on which he was able to get the forceout at the plate.
   However, Brookfield shortstop Blaine Wilkerson drove in two with a single to center, sending Bailey racing to third with the potential tying run and one out.
Parker then came up with a clutch play, picking Bailey off third for the second out, before fanning Joe Hartman to end the inning with Chillicothe still on top, 4-3.

   With the outcome now in doubt, the Cardinals upped their output to re-seize control.
   Left fielder Connor Lindley began the top of the eighth with a hit to left and advanced on a wild pitch. With one out, third sacker Douglas worked the tiring Bailey for a walk to bring up the top of the order with two men on.
   Young blooped a single to shallow center to load the bases for Blattner. He hit a ball that the Brookfield second baseman didn’t handle and two runs scored.
   Rested and revived by his teammates’ re-expansion of the lead to three runs, Parker struck out two while blanking the home team in the eighth as the Cardinals reasserted control.
   The Chillicothe pitcher led off the ninth with a triple to left, his third hit of the game and scored on VanHoutan’s tap that relief pitcher Wilkerson had to handle.
   For good measure, the Cardinals tacked on another on a Blake Stephens walk and Lindley’s second-straight hit, a run-scoring double.
   Parker worked a 1-2-3 ninth, closing with a flourish with back-to-back strikeouts as Chillicothe closed out the district victory.
   In addition to Parker’s three-hit day, Young also was three for five and Lindley, Singleton, and Blattner each had two-hit games as part of a 13-hit attack. Brookfield’s five hits came from five separate sources.

   In the second game, each team managed only four hits in five innings, but Brookfield managed to turn its into three runs with the help of some Chillicothe defensive breakdowns.
   The hosts opened their first with consecutive singles by Bailey and Wilkerson. After they stole second and third, a Cardinals error let them score for a 2-0 Brookfield lead.
   The margin became 3-0 in the third when Bailey and Wilkerson again smacked consecutive singles. Two wild pitches before Wilkerson’s allowed it to drive in the run.
Chillicothe got on the board against winning pitcher Wills in the fourth. With one out, Stephens singled, moved up on a wild pitch, and scored on Lambert Eller’s hit to left-center.
   A fine defensive play by the Cardinals prevented Brookfield from regaining a three-run cushion in the bottom of the fourth.
   With Mendenhall trying to score from third on Allen’s grounder to shortstop Blattner, catcher Douglas made a great grab of the shortstop’s throw with the runner bearing dbvown on him and a great tag, Cardinals team officials reported, to get the out. However, it went for nought as Wills worked a three-up, three-down ninth to end it.
Blattner had half of the Cardinals’ four hits in the loss.