It’s been said that it’s hard to beat a team three times during the course of a season.

The Crestwood American Legion varsity baseball team (10-12, 9-9 District 10) had defeated Ballwin 9-6 and 11-8 earlier this month, before falling to Post 611 in the District 10 tournament 13-4 July 10.

“We had already beaten them (Ballwin) twice this season,” Crestwood head coach Sean Erwin told the Call.

“We just didn’t come out to play. That’s been the story for us all year is that we haven’t been able to win the big games when we’ve needed to,” the coach added.

Crestwood starting pitcher Mark Spinner threw seven innings as he gave up 10 runs on 14 hits. He retired three batters via strikeout in his first loss of the season.

“Mark had beaten Ballwin twice and we knew it would be a different ballgame the third time around,” Erwin said. “They (Ballwin) hit the ball hard.”

Spinner finished out the season with a record of 5-1 and a 3.82 earned-run average. He recorded a team-high 29 strikeouts with just 10 walks.

“Against Ballwin, Mark got the ball up a bit and they were just hitting the ball very well,” Erwin said. “You’ve got to tip your hat to Ballwin because they played very well both offensively and defensively.”

Having a solid day at the plate was second baseman Mike Croghan and outfielder Jeff Malke, who were both 3-5.

“They both had great days at the plate,” Erwin said. “Jeff ended his playing career on a good note by going 3-5, which was really good to see.”

Crestwood will have three representatives in the American Legion District 10 All-Star game at 7 p.m. July 25 at the Ballwin Athletic Association fields in Ballwin.

Croghan and Malke along with center fielder Chris Luebbert will play for the South All-Stars in the exhibition game.

“I think it says a lot about the quality of players that we have,” Erwin said. “It’s nice to see three seniors play in the all-star game because it’s a good experience that these guys will remember for a long time.”