American Legion Minnesota Division I Tournament

Volume 18, No. 1 Gazette Eagan, Minn. Friday, Aug. 1, 2014

TerryThe 2014 Minnesota Ryan American Legion highlightsa state tournament. “Play as hard Legionas you can, Minnesota isbanquet as strong as anywhere in country, Baseball Tournament kicked off with the annu- but remember the game is supposed to be fun and that the final two teams that go onto al banquet Thursday night at the Eagan too.” regional play should expect to do well. Community Center. Ryan also talked about his battle with can- “It can be harder to win the Minnnesota Terry Ryan, general manager of the cer. “I can’t travel, and that’s no way to be a tournament than it is to win a regional.” Minnesota Twins, was the featured speaker, general manager. You have to keep battling, Play will begin on four fields today, with and he told of his day running the Twins as the because what’s the alternative? It really puts two games each at Eagan Varsity Field, Red trading deadline expired. life in a true perspective.” Haddox Field in Bloomington and two fields at He also had some advice for the 300 or so The evening featured comments by Alimagnet Park in Burnsville. ballplayers from the 16 teams gathered for the American Legion State Commander Mike Ash A complete bracket of the tournament is on Division I tourney. and Baseball Director Mike Perry. the reverse of this page. “There are no shortcuts in life, and there are Two awards were given out. Dennis Frey of The tourney is a double-elimination format no shortcuts on the baseball field. Respect the Howard Lake was inducted into the American spread out over four days. game,” he said. Legion Baseball Hall of Fame. He is a longtime Play will conclude Monday at Eagan with Ryan commended American Legion baseball volunteer and is also active at his post. the semi-final game at 10 a.m. and the final Baseball because it emphasizes actually play- Scott Hackett, Eden Prairie, was named game at 1 p.m. ing the games and teamwork. Too often, espe- Coach of the Year. He took his team to a nation- The Division II Tournament featuring the cially in the Latin American system, top young al title three years ago. smaller schools in the state, will also begin players are “showcased” rather than competing Hackett told the players that they would today with single-elimination competition at on a team, he said. remember this tournament the rest of their Luverne. Eight teams will compete to advance He said it was a great opportunity to play in lives, and he said that Legion baseball in to regional play.

Excelsior tops final baseball poll Excelsior finished atop the final American 12. St. Cloud Chutes 22 Legion Division I poll, establishing itself as the 13. Champlin 20 team to beat in this year’s state tourney. 14. Edina 19 Tri-City Red of New Brighton finished sec- 15. Wayzata 15 ond. Last year’s state champion, Eden Prairie, 16. Eastview 13 did not make the tournament this year. 17. Hopkins 5 The final poll results included: 18. Shakopee 4 1. Excelsior 140 19. Delano 3 2. Tri-City 125 20. Chanhassen 2 3. Lakeville North 105 21. East Ridge 2 4. Burnsville 59 22. St. Francis 1 5. Hamline Purple 45 Several teams fell off the final poll after 6. Chaska 39 being rated highly in the previous poll includ- 7. Eden Prairie 38 ing Bloomington Blue (10), Mahtomedi (6) 8. New Ulm Gold 36 and North St. Paul (9) 9. Alexandria 28 The poll is conducted with 14 baseball 10. Rochester Redhawks 26 coaches and experts around the state. 11. Nisswa 23 Excelsior took all 14 first place votes. TERRY RYAN