This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
The Marshfield Post 54 Legion baseball team heads into this week’s Class AAA Regional tournament at D.C. Everest with dreams of a trip to the state tournament.
In order to make that happen, the Blue Devils will have to find a way to do two things – limit big innings from their opponents and coming up with a big hit with runners on base.
Marshfield (15-18 entering Monday’s regular-season finale against Wausau) will play Wisconsin Rapids (17-8) in its opening game at the double-elimination regional Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Simon Field at D.C. Everest High School.
The Blue Devils have played above water since a tough 2-8 start to the season, but left a number of possible victories on the field as they were unable to close.
“There are two things that have hurt us this year more than anything in almost all of our losses,” Marshfield manager Josh Metz said. “One, we haven’t been able to cash in with runners on base. And two, there is one inning where things just snowball and we turn a one-run inning into a multiple-run inning for the opponent. So, to make a run in the regional, we have to fix those two things. The margin for error in this regional is so thin every year. If we put the ball in play with runners in scoring position, and find a way to limit the damage in those innings where we do make an error or give up a few walks, we will have a great chance.
“I think the regional is as wide open as it’s been in several years. I would expect it to be some really close and exciting games over the course of the scheduled four days.”
Despite losing workhorse Mac Konieczny to an injury, the Marshfield pitching depth has been one of the strengths of this season’s team.
Owen Griesbach, Blake Raab, Aden Cherney, Nathan Richardson and Emmitt Konieczny will be at the ready to toe the rubber for the Blue Devils.
“Coming into the season, I definitely felt (pitching) was a strength of the team, and that has absolutely shown to be the case,” Metz said. “There were definitely a few hiccups along the way though. Owen Griesbach had to be shut down for a couple weeks with a sore elbow. Mac Konieczny was leading the team in innings pitched when he broke his right wrist playing catcher in a game against Medford. But Owen is healthy now, and we have the pitching depth needed to go into a double-elimination regional. I think there were a few times this summer we were a bit squeezed for pitching, but with the depth we had, we were able to even things out.”
Marshfield took a three-game winning streak into the final game against Wausau, scoring in double digits each game, showing some resolve after all those tough losses earlier in the season.
“The team morale is great,” Metz said. “We have had what I would consider, an unprecedented number of close losses in a season. Something like that can definitely be discouraging. But these guys showed up every single game. In Legion baseball, when you are playing so many games in such a short amount of time, I think there’s naturally going to be some nights where you just don’t play your best. But those games were kept to the bare minimum this summer, and I think that says a lot about this team.”
Every game of the four-day tournament will be streamed live by Zaleski Sports. Go to zaleskisports.com for links each day.
Class AAA American Legion Baseball Regional
July 24-27, at Simon Field, D.C. Everest High School
Double elimination tournament, winner qualifies for Class AAA State Tournament at Wisconsin Rapids, July 30-Aug. 3
Wednesday, July 24
Game 3: Marshfield (15-18) vs. Wisconsin Rapids (17-8), 1 p.m.
Game 2: Stevens Point (20-7) vs. Wausau (13-21), 4 p.m.
Game 1: D.C. Everest vs. Plover (22-12), 7 p.m.
Thursday, July 25
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1 p.m.
*Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3, 4 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 7 p.m.
*Schedule will be as follows if Winner of Game 1 wins Game 5:
Friday, July 26
Game 7: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 6, 1 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 4 p.m.
Game 9: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8 p.m.
Saturday, July 27
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 4 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 10 vs. Loser Game 10 (if first loss), 7 p.m.
*Schedule will be as follows if Loser of Game 3 wins Game 5:
Friday, July 26
Game 7: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 1 p.m.
Game 8: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 4 p.m.
Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7, 7 p.m.
Saturday, July 27
If Winner of Game 6 wins Game 9
Game 10: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 8, 4 p.m.
Game 11: Repeat if Game 8 winner wins Game 10, 7 p.m.
If Winner of Game 6 loses Game 9
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 9, 4 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 7 p.m.