St. Charles Claims First Legion District Title Since 2004

(Corrections: This story orginally reported that St. Charles had not won a district title since 1993. It also listed the final score of the district final as 8-1. These errors have been updated with the correct information. We apologize for the mistakes.)

O’FALLON – Pitching, pitching, pitching, and pitching.

That’s the formula St. Charles Post #312 followed in its quest to claim the 2011 District 9 North Division Tournament championship last weekend.

And boy was that formula successful as Post 312 put together four straight remarkable pitching performances in four straight days. This led to the team claiming its first district championship since 2004.

“Whatever it takes, any given day, we’re finding ways to win,” Post 312 coach Kurt Denningmann said. “It’s been exciting. Pitching is the main key though.”

Starting pitcher Dustin Fuller, a 2011 St. Charles West graduate, and relief ace Sam Melliere, a St. Charles West senior-to-be this fall, put the finishing touches on the title run for Post 312 on Sunday at Westhoff Park. They combined to throw a four-hitter in an 8-2 win over top-seeded West (O'Fallon) in the district championship.

“This pitching performance from Dustin was a little bit unexpected,” Denningmann said. “He’s been battling a little bit with his control. I think he had four hit batters today, and some walks. But this was great for him to come out and throw six innings and allow just one run.”

Fuller’s official line was six innings pitched, one run, two hits, five walks, four hit batters and two strikeouts.

But the key for Fuller was avoiding danger. After escaping a bases-loaded situation in the first inning, he never really faced any real threats.

Even when Fuller allowed West’s only run, a sacrifice fly by Fort Zumwalt West grad Mike Wilkinson in the sixth inning, he was in complete control. He quickly got out of the sixth before the Jaguars could start a serious rally.

“Our defense was really good too,” Denningmann said. “(We got) two double plays that just took us right out of trouble. It really is a pitcher’s best friend.”

Melliere pitched the final three innings and only allowed two hits, which led to a meaningless Jaguars run in the ninth to close out the championship.

At the plate, several St. Charles players stood out, including St. Charles High grad Connor Brett and Duchense High senior-to-be Michael Pundmann, who each had three hits.

Brett, who pitched St. Charles into Sunday’s championship with a complete-game win on Saturday over Wentzville, also had two RBIs and two runs scored on Sunday, while Pundmann had three RBIs.

"Like I said (before), we either score two or three early, then we go to sleep,” Denningmann said. “Or we go to sleep early, then go come back and score late.

"Today we got five runs in the first couple innings, then we went to sleep for a few innings, before we got a couple at the end. That’s just how we are.”

It was good enough to win a championship, and now St. Charles hopes to add to its summer hardware with a berth in the Missouri State Zone 1 Tournament, the first phase in the Missouri American Legion State Championship Tournament.

In fact, both St. Charles and West (O’Fallon) earned berths in the Zone Tournament. The Jaguars qualified by posting the best regular season record in the league.

“We weren’t real great today,” West head coach A.J. Koenig said. “But we’re looking forward to the next challenge in the Zone Tournament.”

Post 312 will serve as the host for the Zone 1 Tournament, which will be played July 21-24 at Lindenwood University in St. Charles.

St. Charles will play Moberly on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Lindenwood.

The Zone championship finals will be played on Sunday at 1 p.m. If a second game is necessary, it will be played immediately afterward.