ST. CLAIRSVILLE Post 159 shortstop Braylen Blomquist receives a throw at second base to force Beverly-Lowell Post 389/750’s Caleb Davis (3) on Sunday during American Legion Region 8 Tournament action on Don Coss Field inside the Cambridge City Park.

CAMBRIDGE — All a baseball manager can do is ask his team to give itself a chance to win. St. Clairsville Post 159 did that Sunday afternoon as the Region 8 Tournament got underway, but it’s how his team got into that position that had Mike Muklewicz shaking his head.

Playing without Will Balgo, Tyler Tonkovich and Kobe Hill who were chosen to participate in the 75th annual OVAC Rudy Mumley All-Star Football Game and reported to camp earlier Sunday, St. Clairsville uncharacteristically committed six errors — five fielding — in dropping an 8-7 decision to Beverly-Lowell Post 389/750 on sun-splashed Don Coss Field inside the City Park.

With the loss, Post 159 (13-8) will meet the loser of tonight’s Marietta-Cambridge contest on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in a win-or-go-home scenario.

“We’re struggling to get past the finish line with our (number) two, three and four hitters out of the lineup, but the first few innings we put ourselves in a good position,” Muklewicz offered. “But then the wall of errors just started coming down. We had six (errors) I think, right? What are you going to do, especially with a depleted lineup offensively, you are not going to make up for six errors.”

Leading 3-1 after three innings, Beverly-Lowell (22-5) scored three unearned runs in the top of the fourth to take a 4-3 lead it wouldn’t relinquish. It then plated one in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh to grab an 8-5 advantage.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Tristan Nemeth drew a full-count walk after being down 0-2 and Drew Sefsick singled to left. Colin Snedeker greeted reliever Seth Miller with an RBI single as Sefsick took third. Sefsick would score when pinch-runner Harrison Kazmirski stole second and the ball skipped into centerfield. However, a strikeout and popout ended the game.

“I thought Drew had a strong start. He got up a little in the pitch count because of the errors, so we had to get him out of there,” Muklewicz said of Sefsick, who deserved a much better fate after allowing just three hits, striking out four and walking three. “He got the groundballs when he needed them. We just couldn’t make the plays behind him.”

Nemeth, who joined the team for the tournament, tripled home Mason Myers in the first to give Post 159 a 1-0 lead. Jaren Starks made it 2-1 after two with an RBI single and Myers raced home on a two-out error for a 3-1 reading after three.

A pair of key errors and a mental lapse cost St. Clairsville a pair of runs with two outs in the three-run fourth.

“We played, defensively, like this was our first game of the season and not our 21st,” Muklewicz noted. “To get as close as we did says something about the kids, but we put ourselves in a terrible position and you just can’t do that, especially against a good team like Beverly-Lowell.”

It appeared Post 159 had something going in the sixth when Snedeker singled leading off. Dakota Hess walked and Jaren Starks legged out a perfect bunt to load the bases, but Beverly-Lowell pitcher Kurt Taylor got a grounder to third that turned into a 5-2-3 double play. On the very next pitch, Braylen Blomquist lined a shot to right-center that knocked in Hess and Starks, making it 7-5.

A St. Clairsville throwing error in the top of the seventh inning allowed what turned out be the game-deciding run to cross the plate.

Post 159 banged out 11 hits. Myers, Sefsick, Snedeker and Starks all had two singles each. Hess clubbed a double. Shriver fanned four.