American
Legion
Minnesota Division I
Tournament
GAZETTE
| Volume 10, No. 3 | Excelsior, Minnesota | Saturday, August 5, 2006 |
| Tourney down to 6.5 games | Friday's Stars | |
| Seven teams and six and one-half games
remain in the 2006 Minnesota American Legion Tournament
today. A suspended game added to the drama as the tournament entered its third day. Hamline was leading the Rochester Redhawks 6-5 when play was suspended in the seventh inning. That game will be completed at 10 a.m. today at Bennett Field. The early game at Big Willow will feature Richfield and Burnsville, and Hamline or the Rochester Redhawks will take on West St. Paul in the 1 p.m. game. The 4:30 game will feature the winners of the earlier games, and the marquee matchup at 7:30 will be the unbeatens, Coon Rapids and Eden Prairie. After today's action, only three teams will remain for the final two games. The last two teams remaining will both qualify for national regional play (Aberdeen, SD, and Evansville, IN) and a chance to play in the American Legion World Series at Cedar Rapids, IA. |
--Amazing Factoids -- Joey Lindseth of Bemidji
went 4-5 in the first game Friday, and his average went
down. Lindseth, to that point, was 9-11 in the tournament
with five doubles. |
Kevin
Johnson of Coon Rapids homered for the third
game in a row in a 20-5 victory over West St. Paul. Kyle Bruley of Richfield hit a walk-off grandslam homer to give Richfield a 17-15 win over Excelsior. Steve Fischer of Richfield got his ninth and tenth hits of the tournament in the comeback victory against Excelsior. Eric Carlson of Excelsior went four for six with a homer in his team's loss to Richfield. Danny Miller had the winning two-run single in Eden Prairie's 7-5 win over Burnsville. Louis Salmen of Hamline had three hits in a 9-3 victory over Hopkins. |
| Nothing like a walk-off slam by John Sherman | |
Batting in the
highest-pressure situation of his baseball career, Kyle
Bruley of Richfield felt strangely relaxed Friday morning
at Bennett Family Park in Minnetonka. |
Bruley's homer was his fifth of the
season and his season batting average was a solid .328. "Steve White pumped us up for the last inning," said Bruley. "We had been hitting the ball well all day and we weren't going down without a fight." The victory was sweet revenge for Richfield because Excelsior had 10-runned the Reds, 12-0, during the regular season. "Everyone's criticism at that time was, "Why are you playing Excelsior?" said Karnas. "We've gotten so much better since then. You have to play teams like that during the season just to see where you're at." Karnas said the home run by Bruley was Richfield's first walk-off homer of the season. Richfield players, coaches and fans agreed -- it couldn't have come at a better time. |
| CR player has power surge By John Sherman | |
| Kevin Johnson hit nine home
runs last season for the Coon Rapids American Legion
Baseball team, so he was a bit surprised when he didn't
hit any during the 2006 regular season. Not to worry...Johnson seems to be saving his homers for the state tourney. He has hit one homer in each of his first three state tournament games and Coon Rapids is in the winners' bracket final tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Big Willow Park. "Kevin is red hot," said Coon Rapids Coach Tom Yelle after his team destroyed West St. Paul 20-5 in a winners' bracket game Friday afteroon at Big Willow. "Nick Le neutralized West St. Paul and our bats came alive. I was apprehensive coming into this game. I have coached against Tim Huber before and I know what he can get out of his players. I respect the heck out of them (West St. Paul.)" Johnson said a new bat played a part in his success this week. The team had to replace one of its bats and the new stick, a Liquid Metal brand, has produced results. Of course, the boys swinging the bat ara big part of it, too. "I used the bat for the first time yesterday (Thursday)," said Johnson. "I have been getting base hits this summer, but not home runs. The way I look at it, if it happens, it happens." |
Johnson's home run against
West St. Paul was a majestic shot, well up the light pole
in left-center field. In addition to changing bats, Johnson changed spots in the batting order about mid-season, when he moved from the fourth slot to No. 5. "My average was dipping at that point, and the switch worked out well," said Johnson. "I feel more comfortable in the 5 spot. A lot of teams pitch around our 3 and 4 hitters, Dylan Blake and Andrew Kinney, so I get a lot of good pitches to hit." A win on Saturday night would give Coon Rapids a Regional berth. That has been one of the team's goals all season, but the big goal is the state championship. Yelle coached Coon Rapids to a state title in 2001, but that year he did it the hard way. Coon Rapids lost to New Ulm Gold in the winners' bracket final, then bounced back to down New Ulm in the finals. "The motto for our postseason is Take Care of Business," said Yelle. |
| Stat
Leaders (through Friday): BATTING AVG. 1. Joey Lindseth, Bemidji............................. .733 2. Adam Seaman, Richfield......................... .706 3. Jacob Leitch, Eden Prairie...................... .700 4. Kyle Harrison, Coon Rapids.................... .636 5. Benjamin Braaten, Burnsville................... .615 6. Madison Boer, Eden Prairie.................... .600 7. Kevin Johnson, Coon Rapids.................. .583 8. Brian Olson, St. Paul Park....................... .545 9. Daniel Gastuch, Excelsior........................ .538 10.Aaron Senne, Rochester Redhawks..... .526 SLUGGING PCT 1. Kevin Johnson, Coon Rapids................. 1.333 2. Kyle Harrison, Coon Rapids................... 1.182 3. Aaron Senne, Rochester Redhawks ..... 1.158 4. Carter Sackett, Burnsville........................ 1.143 5. Joey Lindseth, Bemidji............................. 1.067 6. Benjamin Braaten, Burnsville .................... .923 7. Adam Dressel, Hopkins............................. .900 7. Madison Boer, Eden Prairie...................... .900 9. Travis Taran, Hermantown ........................ .875 10.Michael Bormann, Moorhead................... .786 |
RBIs 1. Aaron Senne, Rochester Redhawks.................... 9 2. Daniel Miller, Eden Prairie.....................................8 2. Kevin Johnson, Coon Rapids................................8 2. Carter Sackett, Burnsville.......................................8 5. Kyle Bruley, Richfield .............................................7 6. Kyle Berg, St. Paul Hamline...................................6 6. Michael Borman, Moorhead...................................6 6. Adam Seaman,, Richfield.......................................6 9. 8 tied at .................................................................. 5 HOME RUNS 1. Carter Sackett, Burnsville.......................................3 1. Aaron Senne, Rochester Redhawks.....................3 1. Kevin Johnson, Coon Rapids.................................3 4. Michael Bormann, Moorhead.................................2 5. 24 tied at ..................................................................1 EARNED RUN AVERAGE 1. Ross VanHauen, Willmar...................................0.00 1. Jay Anderson, Eden Prairie...............................0.00 1. Matthew Brinda, Hopkins...................................0.00 1. Andrew LeBlanc, Hermantown..........................0.00 5. Gary Wilfahrt, New Ulm Gold.............................1.00 5. Jason Kickhafer, St. Paul Park.........................1.00 7. Daniel Miller, Eden Prairie.................................1.29 8. Phil Haig, West St. Paul ....................................1.35 9. Erik Olson, Hopkins .......................................... 1.50 10.Josh Taran, Hermantown ................................ 2.00 |
STRIKE
OUTS 1. Steve Gerten, West St. Paul ..........................12 2. Daniel Miller, Eden Prairie..............................10 2. Nicholas Le, Coon Rapids..............................10 4. Jason Kickhafer, St. Paul Park........................ 8 4. William Dahlgren, Burnsville............................. 8 6. Matthew Brinda, Hopkins.................................. 7 6. Dan Bauer, Bemidji........................................... 7 8. 6 tied at .............................................................. 6 SAVES 1. Madison Boer, Eden Prairie.............................. 1 1. Sam Kinne, St. Paul Hamline............................ 1 1. Brett Ferschweiler, Rochester Redhawks........ 1 1. Louis Salmen, St. Paul Hamline........................ 1 1. Patrick Reid, Excelsior....................................... 1 1. Nichaolas Le, Coon Rapids................................1 WINS 1. Phil Haig, West St. Paul .................................... 2 1. 21 tied at ............................................................. 1 |
||
| Excelsior
co-chairs run fan-friendly event by John Sherman |
||||
| Jim Peck, co-director of Excelsiior's
host committee for the State American Legion Baseball
Tournament, said one of the ways you run a successful
tournament is "to pick the right people." Pecks' first draft choice when he won the 2006 state tournament bid was Mable Rohr, his co-chair for the event. "My son, Matthew Schmidt, has played in Jim's organization for three years," said Rohr. "Jim asked me for a few favors in the past and I said I would be happy to help." "The magnitude of the State Legion Tournament has impressed me," Rohr said Friday. "I had no idea it would be as big a deal as this." One of the challenges of running a 16-team, double elimination tournament over four days is to find enough volunteer help. Rohr said starting early was one of the keys to success. "We met once a month for the last year and a-half," she said. "Everyone gave progress reports and we kept chipping away at aeverything we had to do. All 18 familieis of the Excelsior Legion team volunteered their time. So did the members of our Michey Mantle (16-year-old) team." Pne of the key committees was the banquet commitee, chaired by Sue Reid and Kristen Ballum, two of the Legion team mothers. They worked with the management of the Minnetonka Marriot Hotel, leaving no detail to chance. |
Players, coaches and fans ate
steak at the banquet and Peck walked away with a big
smile on his face. "This might be the best banquet
I've attended in a state tournament scenario," he
said. Rohr agree. "I think the banquet was a huge success," she said. "The speakers were wonderful and Sue and Kristen got a lot of prizes donated. Marcie Parker (Jim Peck's wife) also got prizes for us. She found color guards and lined up people to throw out the first ball the first day of the tournament. Rob Gastuch, one of the other parents, lined up all the scorekeppers and announcers. Jim (Peck) and Scott Stefan found tournament sponsors. We were looking for 16 and they ended up with 18." While the details of the tournament fell into place like dominoes, the weather is always the X-factor in any outdoor baseball tourney. Temperatures were unseasonably high in the Twin Cities the last week of July, with the thermometer hitting 100-plus degrees, but the first week of August has been a gift from above, Peck said. With termperatures in the mid-80s and no rain, the tournament has been played right on schedule. "The weather falls the way it falls," said Peck. "You can't do much about it. The forecast isn't good for Saturday night, so we have our fingers crossed." If anyone deserves good weather this week, it's Jim Peck, Minnesota's baseball ambassador. He has served youth baseball in the Minnetonka-Excelsior area and state-wide, as well, for 43 years. "I was going to do it two or three years as kind of a civic-duty thing," Peck said recently. "I enjoyed it so much, I stayed forever." |
At the age of 66, the former Excelsior
Legion coach has not slowed down much. He still works as
a pharmacist and in his spare time, he runs the Excelsior
Legion program from behind the scenes as general manager.
His young coach, Rob Hager, is in his first year at the
helm after coming over from Bloomington Blue. Peck is certainly qualified to guide young coaches along the right path. In 43 years of coaching, his won-lost record was 1,405 - 580 - 4. He doesn't remember all the details of those wins and probably couldn't recite the circumstances of the four ties. What he does remember is the great relationships he's had with his ballplayers, many of whom went on to play college baseball. One of Peck's most notable contributions to the community has been his involvement in the development of Bennett Family Park, the local youth baseball facility, which is used by Minnetonka's Little League and Babe Ruth teams, as well as by the Excelsior Legion team. "The Bennett thing is pretty big to me, probably because it's so close to home," said Peck, who form many years owned the local pharmacy, Deephaven Drug. "It is very important to the area, and it's so unique because it's privately-owned. There aren't more than a half-dozen places like it in the country." After four days of non-stop work at the State Legion Tournament, Peck and Rohr won't be taking any time off Monday morning. Peck will be back filling prescriptions at the pharmacy. Rohr will return to her job as a geriatric nurse practitioner. |
||
| Eden
Prairie's Miller delivers By John Sherman |
|
| Danny Miller's clutch hit
boosted the Eden Prairie American Legion team to a 7-5
win over Burnsville. After winning its first two state games by the 10-run rule, Eden Prairie finally got a test. Burnsville jumped to an early 3-1 lead, Eden Prairie showed why it was the top-ranked team in the state Legion poll. Miller stroked a single up the middle in the bottom of the seventh to break a 5-5 tie. Then Eden Prairie's pitching did the rest. Starter Cole Hytjan went seven innings to get the win. Relievers Matt Hericks and Madison Boer weathered a storm when Burnsville loaded the bases in the top of the ninth inning. |
Talking aabout his
game-winning hit, Miller said, "Their pitcher was
throwing a lot of off-speed stuff. I went with the pitch
and hit it up the middle." Miller plays left field and also pitches. He said his team has outstanding chemisty and a will to win. "We have a great bunch of guys and the college guys are great leaders," he noted. Hytjan, who raised his pitching record to 8-0 Friday night, said, "I just wanted to get the ball over the plate and let the defense work for me. I was hitting my spots, they just hit the ball early in the game. Burnsville's a good hitting team. Our younger guys (Hericks and Boer) did the job coming out of the bullpen. |
Division I
Game Summaries, Friday, August 4, 2006:
Game 17
Bemidji 10, St. Paul Park 0
Catcher Joey Lindseth continued his hot hitting with a
four-for-five performance as Bemidji eliminated St. Paul Park
Friday monring at Big Willow Park. Three of Lindseth's hits were
doubles and he had three RBI. Andrew Hengel also drove in the
three runs, while Dan Bauer pitched a four-hitter.
| St. Paul Park | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |||||||||
| Bemidji | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 16 | 0 |
Marks, DenHerder (7) and Pemel, DeFlorin (8). Bauer and Lindseth. WP Bauer. LP Marks.
Game 18
Richfield 17, Excelsior 15
Kyle Bruley hit a grandslam homer with two outs in the bottom of
the ninth to end the contest. Excelsior had taken the lead with
seven runs in the top of the ninth inning. In all, the teams
combined for 39 hits. Carl Ermisch had three hits and three RBI
for Richfield. One of his hits was a two-run homer. Steven
Fischer had two hits and three RBI for the winners. Eric Carlson
hit a home run for Excelsior, while teammate Jacob Bandy had
three hits and three RBI.
| Excelsior | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 15 | 20 | 3 | ||||||||
| Richfield | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 19 | 4 |
Gruetzmacher, White (4), Book (9) and Bruley, Seaman (5). Krieger, Gross (6), reid (8), Everett (9) and Bozoian. WP Book. LP Reid. HR Carl Ermisch, Richfield, Kyle Bruley, Richfield. Eric Carlson, Excelsior.
Game 19
St. Paul Hamline 9, Hopkins 3
Louis Salmen, Sam Kinne and Max Selim each had three
hits in Hamline's victory over Hopkins in an elimination game
Friday afternoon at Big Willow Field in Minnetonka. Rob Punch,
who allowed four hits over six innings, was the winning pitcher.
Jonathan Ricco hit a two-run homer for Hopkins and teammate Adam
Dressel had a solo homer.
| St. Paul Hamline | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 1 | |||||||||
| Hopkins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
Punch, Salmen (7) and Gabriel. Olson, Thompson (7) and Stearns. WP Punch LP Olson. HR Jonathan Ricco, Hopkins. Adam Dressel, Hopkins.
Game 20
Rochester Redhawks 5, Moorhead 4
Moorhead outhit the Rochester Redhawks 12-4, but came up
short on the scoreboard. Mike Bormann had two hits for Moorhead,
while teammate Brock Gnadt had three hits and two RBI. Ezra
Campbell allowed six hits in six innings to notch the pitching
win. Ben Becker hurled three innings of relief for the save.
| Moorhead | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 2 | |||||||||
| Rochester Redhawks | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 5 | 4 | 1 |
Pieterick, Gnadt (4) and Dahl. Campbell, Becker (7) and Nesleer. WP Campbell. LP Pieterick.
Game 21
Richfield 12, Bemidji 4
Catcher Adam Seaman of Richfield went five for five and scored
twice in his team's losers' bracket game against Bemidji. Devin
Roth, a 16-year-old lefty, was a surprise starter on the mound
for Richfield and he responded with a win. Carl Ermisch finished
the seven-hitter with two and two-thirds innings of quality
relief work. Phil Paszkiewicz added three hits for the winners.
Joey Lindseth had two hits and scored a run for Bemidji.
| Richfield | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 15 | 0 | |||||||||
| Bemidji | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
Roth, Ermisch (6) and Seaman. Baueer, Murphy (3), Parker (4), Peterson (7) and Lindseth. WP Roth. LP Bauer.
Game 22
Hamline v. Rochester Redhawks
The game was suspended bacause of darkness with St. Paul
Hamline leading 6-5 in the middle of the seventh inning. The game
will resume at 10 a.m. Saturday morning at Bennett Family Park in
Minnetonka.
Game 23
Coon Rapids 20, West St. Paul 5
Nick Le of Coon Rapids pitched a six-hitter and had two hits
himself in the victory over the West St. Paul Challengers. Home
runs by Kevin Johnson and lead-off man Kyle Harrison were part of
Coon Rapids' 20-hit attack. Peter Usset hit a home run for West
St. Paul. Usset and Mike Kinsel each had two hits.
| West St. Paul | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Coon Rapids | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 20 | 3 |
Pribble, Casper (3), B. Oppegard (3), Usset (6), Shows (7) and Usset, Gerten (6). Le and Oberfoell, Morrissette (5). WP Le. LP Pribble. HR Peter Usset, West St. Paul. Kyle Harrison, Coon Rapids, Kevin Johnson, Coon Rapids.
Game 24
Eden Prairie 7, Burnsville 5
In a hard-fought winners' bracket game Friday night at Big Willow
Park, defending state champion Eden Prairie held off Burnsville.
Danny Miller delivered the game-winning hit, a single up the
middle in the bottom of the seventh inning. Cole Hytjan, the
winning pitcher, improved to 8-0 with seven innings on the mound.
Madison Boer retired the only hitter he faced in the ninth inning
after Burnsville loaded the bases. Eden Prairie boosted its
season record to 39-6. Burnsville's record is 28-9.
| Burnsville | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 2 | |||||||||
| Eden Prairie | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | X | 7 | 13 | 1 |
Dahlgren, Meacham (7), Hackett (7), Lehnen (8) and Braaten. Hytjan, Mericks (8), Boer (9) and Anderson. WP Hytjan. LP Meacham. HR Carter Sackett, Burnsville.
| 2006 Tournament Home Page |
| The Gazette, Thursday, August 3, 2006 |
| The Gazette, Friday, August 4, 2006 (Thursday's Action) |
| The Gazette,
Sunday, August 6, 2006, (Saturday and Sunday's action) |
Last Updated: 8/6/06
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