The Iola American Legion Post 15 Indians 19U baseball team received an automatic bid to the state tournament after multiple opponents bowed out of the previously scheduled zone tournament.
Two of four zone teams advance to state, and because only Iola and the Garnett Post 48 Muddogs fielded teams for the tournament, both received an automatic bid to the state tournament in Hiawatha, which kicks off July 25 with a championship game scheduled for July 28.
“We’ll get together again and do some work at the college to get everybody ready,” said John Taylor, an assistant coach for both the 19U and the 17U. “The 17U starts Thursday at 1 o’clock so we have to get them ready to go.
The 19U Indians head into the state tournament with a full head of steam after sweeping last weekend’s Chanute Wood Bat Tournament. While many of the 19U Indians will receive a lengthy rest before state thanks to the zone tournament’s cancelation, Easton Weseloh, Kale Pratt and a host of the 19U players under the age of 18 head to Topeka this weekend for the 17U tournament.
“The Legion rule is you can play in one zone and two state tournaments,” Taylor said. “With the way zone worked out for the 19U, where we had three teams drop out, that helped in the long run of getting Kale Pratt and Easton Weseloh in the lineup.”
The 9-11 Indians open the double elimination state tournament, located inside the Lake Shawnee Bettis Family Sports Complex, against fourth seed 10-11 Pittsburg Post 64.
The Indians wrapped up the regular season with a 10-9, 16-12 sweep of Pittsburg.
If they win, then they face the winner of first-seed Garnett vs. eighth-seed Paola 1 p.m. Friday. If they lose, then they face either Garnett or Paola 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
“Heading into both state tournaments, I think both teams can make a run at a state title,” Taylor said. “We have good pitching, and when you get this late in the season, pitching is what wins games. You have to have timely hitting and defense, but if you have good pitching you’re going to keep advancing.”
The 19U Indians will learn who they face at the state tournament once the remaining zone tournaments wrap up later this week.
The 19U Indians hope to make history by winning their fourth-consecutive state title, which would tie a previous record held by Silver Lake.
With multiple-time all-conference players Grady Dougherty, Blake Ellis and Dominic Smith all being eligible to play next season, the Indians could even solidify their names in the history of American Legion dominance next season.
“We’re trying to tie the record this year, and we have a good shot at doing that,” Taylor said. “Hopefully, next year we break it. Realistically, we lose four players off our roster next year. Guys like Grady are young enough to play even though he’s going off to college. Dom Smith is young enough even though he’s going off to college. The decisions they make could impact us a lot whether they come back or not.”
