Brandon Dahl made his first start of the season a memorable one for the Kenosha Legion Post 21 Merchants on Sunday.

The Tremper graduate pitched an eight-hitter as the Merchants blanked Zion 4-0 on the final night of the Andy Smith Memorial Wood Bat Classic at Simmons Field.

Rain on Friday prevented the tournament from crowning a champion.

The Merchants, who went 3-1 in the tournament, are 11-1 overall.

“I’m happy with that,” said Merchants manager Peter DiGaudio, whose team plays Franklin Post 192 in a Lakes Area Legion game at 7 tonight at Simmons Field.

Dahl walked three and struck out six and was backed by a defense that turned three double plays, including one in which third baseman Rick Steinke fielded a ground ball, tagged a runner heading from second to third, then threw to first to end the game.

Dahl pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the second by getting a fly out and a strikeout.

“We really flashed some leather tonight,” DiGaudio said. “This was our second consecutive game without an error and third in four games. The second inning was critical.

Steinke and Luke Olson delivered RBI singles for Post 21, which scored two runs apiece in the second and fifth innings.

Twins shut out

The Kenosha Twins suffered a 6-0 loss to Lake Forest in the Smith Classic.

Tyler Panasewicz (0-2) pitched six innings and allowed five runs (four earned) with three walks and four strikeouts.

Lake Forest snapped a scoreless tie in the top of the fifth on Andrew Boyce’s, two-out, two-run double and added three runs in the sixth.

“We probably went an inning too long with Tyler,” Twins manager Mike Tennyson said. “He really pitched well through five innings, but he might have hit the wall in the sixth. Either way, we would have had to score a couple of runs to help him out.

“We just didn’t get the key hits with runners in scoring position.”

Ricky Betori led the Twins (2-4) with two hits, and Panasewicz, Ryan Neu and Drew Tennyson also collected hits.

The Twins will play Tuesday at Beloit.

Bobcats go 1-3

The U-16 Kenosha Bobcats finished 1-3 in the Milwaukee Sports Association Tournament over the weekend.

Adam Widder led the Bobcats to their lone victory, 5-1 over Team USA on Sunday. Widder allowed one run and three hits while striking out six in seven innings and hit a three-run home run in the first inning to put the Bobcats ahead 3-0.

Crystal Lake (Ill.) edged the Bobcats 2-1 in their second game Sunday.

Bradford’s Michael Swift was the hard-luck loser, tossing six innings while allowing four hits and two earned runs. Bradford’s Nick Wise doubled in Kenosha’s only run, and Swift had two hits. Bradford’s Tyler Clough paced the defense by throwing out three base runners.

On Saturday, the Bobcats lost 7-1 to the Top Choice Cougars and 6-0 to the Chicago White Sox Baseball Academy.

The Bobcats will play the Morton Grove Mustangs 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Simmons Field.