Legion baseball: Eau Claire close to full strength entering Great Lakes Regional
Aug. 2—All things considered, the Eau Claire Pizza Hut Post 53 Legion baseball team is in good shape entering its toughest challenge yet.
Eau Claire, the AAA state runner-up in Wisconsin, begins play at the Great Lakes Regional on Wednesday in Midland, Mich. As the calendar begins to transition from summer to fall, baseball teams still playing in August sometimes begin to lose players to other endeavors like football or starting college classes. But Post 53 is still largely at full strength as they aim to qualify for the American Legion World Series.
Minus a couple of injuries, Eau Claire has a full contingent ahead of its Great Lakes opener against Illinois runner-up Moline.
"We're pretty close to full strength," manager Mark Faanes said. "My confidence level is high. I've got a good group of guys. We hit, and that's a good start when you get to one of these tournaments. We have arms. We'll see. We're an experienced group, and I like that. Who knows what we're going to see from the other states, but I like our chances."
Eau Claire will be without Christian Schaller, but otherwise the entire lineup and pitching rotation that helped the team take second at last week's state tournament is still around. Schaller will need to be replaced on the mound after throwing a perfect game at regionals and earning another victory at state. He tweaked an injury at the state tournament.
The team will also be without hitter Cole Bakkum, who has missed a few weeks with an injury.
Eau Claire's powerful offense scored 57 runs across six games at state last week. The bats figure to be the team's strength as they test themselves against the best that Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio have to offer.
"I think for us, we need our pitching to hang in there," Faanes said. "I know we will hit. We will hit the ball hard, we always do. So if our pitching can hang in there — and maybe that's just baseball in general — I like our chances."
Eau Claire plays Moline in the first game of the regional at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Post 53 departed Eau Claire late on Monday night and traveled to Michigan overnight.
This is Eau Claire's first appearance at the Great Lakes Regional since 2018. Post 53 reached the final four that summer before being eliminated. By virtue of taking second place at the state tournament behind Manitowoc, they earned a return trip. Manitowoc won the state championship game 6-3.
"I told the guys we weren't looking for the silver ball, but baseball's a funny game and sometimes a ball doesn't bounce your way. That's kind of what happened in the last game, in my estimation," Faanes said. "But we get a shot at the national regional here, so we're in the last 64 teams in the United States shooting for an American Legion World Series championship. We'll take that."
Post 53 will play either Muncie, Ind., or Gladwin, Mich., on Thursday depending on the results from the first day of action. The regional continues through Sunday, with the champion joining the seven other regional winners at the World Series in Shelby, N.C., next week.
The competition only gets tougher from here, but that's not changing Eau Claire's confidence.
"The competition level rises, but we're one of the top two teams in the state and that's what we'll face there," Faanes said. "It's nothing that's overly intimidating."
