Manitowoc Legion Post 88 is scheduled to take the diamond late this morning (August 3rd) in Midland, Michigan for the opening round of the Great Lakes Regional Baseball Tournament.
The 26-and-5 area squad that won the State championship in Sheboygan last weekend will meet up with Aviston, Illinois (27-1) at 11:30 a.m. our time.
We spoke with Manager Kevin Stangel about melding together young players from Lincoln, Roncalli, Lutheran, Two Rivers, Kiel, and Hilbert into one solid unit.
“Everything came together fairly well for them and it’s just been an enjoyable experience,” he expalined. “You know taking the wins and losses out of the equation, it’s a good group of kids that mesh well together and like to play for each other and it always makes it even more enjoyable and satisfying when they get some success.”
As for reaching the national regional tournament in Michigan, Stangel said it’s the “same approach, just a different location. You just compete, have fun, let it fall where it falls.”
He went on to say, “I think we’ve got a pretty competitive group of kids and I don’t think they’re just happy to be here. I think they’re going to want to compete, but we also understand there’s going to be an uptick in competition too. We don’t know too much about the other teams here other than about the host team (Midland) that’s gone to the Legion World Series a number of years and a couple of other teams I’m familiar with because they’ve historically had pretty good teams from around the midwest.”
Wisconsin runner-up finisher, Eau Claire, will face Moline, Illinois in the first game of the double-elimination tournament in Midland, which is about 60 miles from Flint, Michigan.
