Post 340 still winless through seven games

By Corine Gatti

Published: July 1, 2008

The magic number for Post 340 is seven, but it’s not a lucky number as the men from the River City were trumped 13-3 by Orange Post 156 at Kate Collins Field on Tuesday night. The loss was the squad’s seventh straight loss in its winless season.
“We play well for five to six innings and if we get frustrated, we lose it,” said manger Gary Weatherholtz.
Post 340 was knotted 3-3 going into the fourth inning, but pitcher Drew DeMoss allowed one earned run and the second run crossed the plate by an outfield error. The next two innings continued to give 340 more headaches with Post 156 taking a 10-3 lead.
“I think the players are disappointed with the other players who don’t show up,” Weatherholtz said. “This [is] summer ball and sometimes you will have seven players or 11 players on the lineup. But we are not playing in position and they aren’t showing the effort.”
Effort was not an issue for Post 156, who was short on pitching and had Cody Whitlock start for the first time.
“I didn’t feel nervous. I’m used to finishing a game, not starting,” Whitlock said. “We did a good job hitting the ball and I was able to get the pitches where I needed to.”
Weather Holtz was impressed with his starter too.
“Drew threw four good innings. I brought in rising senior Aaron Coffey and Steven Brown was able to get the grounders that we needed,” Weatherholtz said.
As the story line for the 340 continued, Orange compiled 17 hits by the bottom of the eighth inning, while adding three more runs to complete the victory, leaving a few hanging heads in the Post 340 dugouts, but mostly puzzlement by the manager.
“It’s good that you are having fun out there, but I need to see effort,” Weatherholtz said after the game. “When you have this age group, things like this happen. We never really know how many kids are going to come,” he said.
Post 340 will play against Post 13 Staunton at home Thursday at 7 p.m.