Defense can clearly help you win and lose games.

Such was the case for the Crestwood American Legion baseball team on June 16. Post 777 watched a 6-4 lead in the top of the ninth inning wither away to a 9-6 loss to Kirkwood.

“I think that our problem is that we need to relax a bit,” Crestwood head coach Sean Erwin told the Call. “We just go out there and get too tense.”

The evening before, Crestwood (4-3) smacked Kirkwood with a 13-2 defeat.

“The day before we beat them 13-2 and came out on Wednesday and hit the ball pretty well,” Erwin explained. “We had a chance to put them away and just didn’t do that.”

Taking the loss on the mound for Crestwood was starting pitcher David Ounanian who threw 81/3 innings. Ounanian gave up seven runs on 10 hits, while walking two and retiring two via strikeout.

“David threw very well,” Erwin said. “He didn’t really have his best stuff, but he pitched well enough for us to win the game. We got into a situation where we needed to make plays for him defensively and we didn’t.”

Outfielder Chris Lubbert had a solid evening at the plate as he went 2-4 with a solo home run and a walk. Lubbert is currently batting .429 with two home runs and six runs batted in.

“Chris is probably one of the best defensive outfielders that I’ve seen in the St. Louis area,” Erwin said. “He’s upped his stock quite a bit and a few colleges have showed some interest in him. He’s a great asset to our lineup both offensive and defensively.”

Crestwood plays host to south county rival Oakville this Friday in a game that clearly will determine the pecking order of the District No. 10 standings. Oakville previously beat Crestwood 7-2 June 12.

“We need this win to get the split with them,” Erwin said. “It’s always been a great rivalry. Oakville is one of those teams where you look on the schedule and know that it’s going to be a good game.”

Post 777’s game against Oakville is slated for a 5:30 p.m. start at Lindbergh High School.