Jim Buchberger/The Register  St. Leon's Jake Theobald (6) trots into third base as the Floyd's Knobs third baseman bobbles the baseball in last Friday's 9-8 regional tournament first round win by the local Post 464 team at Terre Haute North.

TERRE HAUTE – A tumultuous summer season, which included an 8-16 finish and 10th consecutive Senior American Legion Baseball sectional title, concluded Saturday for St. Leon Post 464.

St. Leon, coached by Mike Wieser under the guidance of 53-year manager Jake Stenger, went 1-2 in regional tournament play at Terre Haute North High School last weekend.

Despite a first-round 9-8 come-from-behind victory over Floyd's Knobs Post 42 Friday night, Post 464 fell short of returning to the Senior Legion state finals, where it ended the 2011 campaign as state runner-up.

“It's disappointing, but a lot of people probably didn't even give us a chance to win our sectional, coming in with a 7-14 (regular season) record,” said Wieser, whose team struggled with personnel shortages most of the summer.

Left-handed ace Cory Spencer, headed for Capital University this fall, returned to the lineup for a nine-inning complete-game victory over Floyd's Knobs Friday.

The 9-8 regional win proved to be a thriller, with Post 42 taking a two-run lead in the top of the ninth. St. Leon rallied for three in the home half, however, failing to fall for a hidden-ball play that Floyd's Knobs attempted.

Returning to action at noon Saturday, St. Leon took on winner's bracket rival and host Terre Haute Post 346, the eventual regional champion. The host team prevailed 6-5, despite a strong seven innings from St. Leon starter Derrick Short, who allowed just two hits without a walk as his team took the early 4-1 lead. Michael Martin took the loss in relief.

Facing Terre Haute again in the losers' bracket elimination game Saturday evening, St. Leon ended its season with a 14-4 run-rule loss in seven innings. Some controversy was involved, with a persistent malfunction of the home team's scoreboard.

“We had runners on base in the sixth inning and the scoreboard was showing the wrong count and the wrong number of outs,” Wieser noted. “I don't like to complain or make excuses, but our players were fuming coming off the field. I asked them just to turn it off after awhile, but it kept coming back on. It was a shame to end it that way.”