Eau Claire Post 53 wins Legion AAA state championship
KIMBERLY – Eau Claire Post 53 won its first American Legion Class AAA state championship since 1986 with a dominant 9-0 win over Oshkosh in the title game on Saturday.
Adrian Bethel turned in a prolific performance on the mound, and Eau Claire's bats bashed the ball around the park to capture the championship.
"It feels great," Eau Claire manager Mark Faanes said. "I've been at this a long time for me personally, and we've been close many times, so to finally get over the hump is awesome. But I'm mostly happy for our guys. They're a tough bunch. We had some guys injured and missing along the way and that kind of thing, and to come in here and win this thing, I'm really proud of them."
Bethel tossed a complete game five-hitter and kept one of the best teams in the state off the scoreboard. He struck out two and walked none.
While Oshkosh's offense struggled, Eau Claire tallied 10 hits and got the help of some Oshkosh errors to blow the game open.
Post 53 took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second. Jaxon Kostka drove in the first run of the game with a double, and an Oshkosh error brought in another run for Eau Claire.
The game swung decidedly in Eau Claire's favor in the top of the fourth. Adam Krajewski was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in a run before Lukas Gobrecht hit a two RBI single to give Eau Claire a 5-0 lead. Two more runs came in to score on a single wild pitch as Oshkosh threw the ball around the park, putting Post 53 up by seven runs.
"It was great to jump out in the championship game," Faanes said. "I think it gave Adrian a little more confidence on the mound that he could just pound the strike zone and not be concerned."
From that point on, Eau Claire coasted on cruise control. They added two more runs in the seventh on a fielder's choice by Kostka and an RBI single by Kas Palzkill.
Oshkosh couldn't get much going against Bethel. They loaded the bases in the fifth with two outs, but couldn't bring a run in.
"He (Bethel) was getting strikes. His pitch count stayed low just because he was throwing strikes and used his pitches. He was around the plate the whole day, and I just felt he was efficient with it," Faanes said.
Zac Stange, Paul Petit, Jeff Pippenger and Palzkill all had two hits for Eau Claire. Gobrecht and Palzkill both drove in two runs. Adam Penzenstadler was 2-for-4 for Oshkosh.
It was Eau Claire's fifth state championship in program history.
Both Eau Claire (28-5) and Oshkosh (29-5) will advance to the Great Lakes Regional next week in pursuit of an American Legion World Series berth.
"We are excited to go see how they play Legion baseball in other states, but we'll go down and do our best," Faanes said.
