MARION - Steeleville Post 480 couldn't hit or field Wednesday afternoon, giving up eight unearned runs to lose to Edwardsville 11-0 and drop into the losers' bracket at the 5th Division American Legion Senior Baseball Tournament held at Ray Fosse Park.

Edwardsville Post 199 (28-9) got to Steeleville starter Danny Zobel in the first inning for three runs. Jake Meyer led off with a single past a diving Ross Cook at short, and scored the first run when Zobel hit Ian Sikes with the bases loaded and one out.

Andy Burns followed with a smash just inside the first-base line to score two and give Edwardsville the 3-0 lead.

"It was crucial for us to come out strong and getting three runs in the first and not letting them answer back was key," Edwardsville coach Ken Schaake said.

Everything that could go wrong, went wrong for Steeleville in the third inning, when Post 480 gave up seven runs on only two hits. Zobel got off to a bad start, hitting the first batter and walking the second.

Kevin Francouer then attempted to bunt the runners over, but a bad throw to first by Zobel allowed both runners to score. After a strikeout, a walk, a single, a wild pitch and another hit batsman, Edwardsville led 7-0, and Zobel's start came to an end.

Kevin Knop relieved Zobel and retired the first batter he faced. The right-hander would have gotten out of the inning without any further damage, but a high popup on the infield was dropped by the catcher, allowing two more runs to score. The next batter doubled in a run, giving Edwardsville a commanding 10-0 lead after three innings.

Steeleville had trouble at the plate, collecting only six hits off four Edwardsville pitchers, with right fielder Mark Hostert getting two of them.

Steeleville (17-17) will play Marion (26-5) in an elimination game at 4 p.m. today. Marion won its game against New Baden 10-5, breaking a 5-all tie with two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Matt Caraway and an RBI single by Andrew Rowe. Edwardsville will play at 1 p.m. Friday at 1 p.m. against the winner of Murphysboro and Belleville. Those two teams were scheduled to play Wednesday night, but inclement weather forced the game to be postponed until 1 p.m. today.