American Legion Class AAA State Tournament Preview
It’s hard to make the case that this year’s Wisconsin Legion baseball Class AAA state tournament doesn’t have the best draw possible. Practically all of the state’s best teams are present, which should make for a great few days of baseball. Here’s our breakdown of the field, with a few things to watch for.
The Basics
The state tournament is very similar to the regional tournaments that teams played in to get to this point. It’s a double elimination format—that is, once you lose two games, you’re eliminated from the tournament. The final team standing will be crowned state champions.
Both the state champion and state runner-up will advance to the American Legion Great Lakes Regional, which is another eight team double elimination tournament. The winner of the Great Lakes Regional advances to the American Legion World Series in North Carolina.
This year, the state tournament will be hosted by Watertown.
The Field
All eight teams in this year’s field were featured in our latest American Legion Power Rankings. What does that mean? We’ve got a deep field with several teams that have realistic shots at winning the tournament.
The opening game of the tournament will pit Oshkosh against Plover. Plover won the state tournament last season and have a 24-10 record this year. They were ranked #6 in our final rankings of the season. They won the Stevens Point regional by defeating Marshfield (ranked #5 in our latest rankings) in the regional final. They’re loaded with talent on the mound, including St. Cloud State pitcher Cal Giese and Wabash Valley Junior College commit Alex Lee. They’ll be tasked with shutting down a very powerful Oshkosh offense. Oshkosh went 24-3 this season and won their regional without losing a single game. They were ranked #3 in our final rankings of the year. In the postseason, their offense has averaged 15.5 runs scored per game. It’ll be interesting to see how they match up with Plover’s pitching.
The second game on Tuesday will be between Beloit and Eau Claire. Beloit is 29-6 this summer and managed to win their regional despite picking up an early loss to Genoa City. They were ranked #4 in our final rankings of the season. Six of their starters bat over .300 and their ace, Miguel Betancourt, has a 0.89 ERA this year. Eau Claire comes into the tournament with a 25-3 record and as the #2 ranked team in the state. They swept through their regional without losing a single game last week. This game should be tightly contested if both teams play to their potentials.
The Green Bay Shockers and Madison Impact will play at 4:30. The Shockers are 20-6 this summer and survived a tough regional to advance to the state tournament. They’ll probably turn to ace Caleb Schoenholz to shut down a hot Madison team. The Impact are 16-6 this season, and have won eight of their last nine games. During that stretch, they beat fellow state tourney qualifier Plover twice.
In the final game of the opening round, De Pere will square off with Watertown, the hosts of the tournament. De Pere is 27-6 this summer and is the top-ranked team in the state. They managed to overcome an early loss to Sheboygan in regionals by winning their final three games to advance to state. Outfielder Emmett Kulick hit .579 with four home runs and 23 RBIs in 11 conference games alone this year. Watertown will try to slow down De Pere’s potent offense. Post 189 is 22-10 this season, but they lost 7 of their last 12 games. This game may be the only matchup with a clear-cut favorite.
Ultimately, we should be in for a great state tournament. Whichever two teams advance to the Great Lakes Regional will both be more than deserving of representing their state on the national landscape.
