Legion baseball: Eau Claire finishes as state runner-up, advances to Great Lakes Regional
Jul. 31—The Eau Claire Pizza Hut Post 53 Legion baseball team's state tournament run came up just shy of a championship, but its season isn't done yet.
Eau Claire fell to Manitowoc 6-3 in the Class AAA state championship game on Saturday in Sheboygan to finish as state runner-up. But by taking second place, Eau Claire qualified for this week's Great Lakes Regional in Midland, Mich.
Eau Claire blanked Manitowoc 10-0 on Friday night to advance to the final day of the state tournament. An 11-7 win over Marshfield on Saturday morning sent Eau Claire to the championship game for a rematch against Manitowoc.
Manitowoc took the lead on an RBI single in the top of the second inning and added four more runs in the third on another run-scoring single, two hit batsmen with the bases loaded and an RBI fielder's choice.
Eau Claire clawed back into the game in the bottom of the third. Sam Feck and Jonah Hanson got Post 53 on the board with back-to-back RBI singles, and Eau Claire added a third run on a Manitowoc error. But Post 53's comeback couldn't make any further progress, and Manitowoc hoisted the state championship trophy a few innings later.
It's the second state runner-up finish in program history for Eau Claire. The team will head to the Great Lakes Regional for the first time since 2018, when it reached the final four before being eliminated. In addition to Eau Claire and Manitowoc, this year's regional features state champions from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, along with the runner-up from Illinois.
Eau Claire will open regional play against Moline Post 246 — the Illinois runner-up — on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. locally. The champion of the eight-team Great Lakes Regional advances to the American Legion World Series.
Altoona falls at state
Altoona saw its season come to an end at the Class A state tournament on Sunday in Viroqua. Altoona fell to Denmark 10-0 in an elimination game and concluded its summer with a 15-7 record.
The tournament got off to a winning start for Altoona, which beat Wittenberg 10-0 on Friday behind Logan Lau's complete game shutout. But a narrow 3-2 defeat to Viroqua on Saturday sent them to within one loss of elimination.
Denmark stifled the Altoona bats on Sunday to advance to Monday's penultimate round.
