PdC to host state American Legion baseball tournament
The Prairie du Chien Varsity American Legion Baseball Team is, front row: Chad Mara, Andrew Waller, Brogan Potter, Casey Hogenson, Dylan Yeomans, Hunter Sheckler and Drake Coleman. Back row: Coach Kris Graewin, Brian McNett, Gavin Gillitzer, Brady Fernette, Zach Nesius, Chas Sagedahl, Cory Check, Jon Dyer, Gavin Gillitzer, Coach Joey Renner and Coach Dan Shickert. (Photo submitted)
By Ted Pennekamp
The Class ‘A’ State American Legion Baseball Tournament will be hosted by Prairie du Chien from July 27 through July 31 at St. Feriole Island Ballpark. It is the second time Prairie du Chien has been the host.
The locations of the 2016 Class AAA, Class AA and Class A State Tournaments were selected by the regional directors at their annual midwinter meeting in Wisconsin Dells on Jan. 17.
Directors also announced that the Class A and AA champions will participate in the Division 2 National Regionals.
This year, the nationals are at Lesueur and Henderson, Minn., and will include 12 teams from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Illinois, Michigan and Nevada. The teams will be split into three pools for the first two days of the nationals.
The seven regionals that decide which teams get into the State Class A American Legion Tournament begin on July 20. Prairie du Chien, as the host of the state tournament, gets in automatically.
The Prairie du Chien team will play in Region 7, however. The host for Region 7 is Gays Mills. Game 1 will be Viroqua vs. Westby at 3 p.m. Game 2 will feature Prairie du Chien vs. Genoa/De Soto/Stoddard at 5:30 p.m. Game 3 will be the Bi State Bulldogs vs. Gays Mills/Soldiers Grove at 8 p.m.
Prairie du Chien will play in the state tournament along with the winners of the seven regional tournaments.
“I’m looking forward to the games in Prairie. It’s an excellent venue and they’ve always done a great job hosting tournaments in the past,” said American Legion Baseball Commissioner Roger Mathison. “The city provides ample amenities for the visiting teams and their fans.”
The last time Prairie du Chien hosted the state tournament was in 2005, when current head coach Joseph Renner was a senior at Prairie du Chien High School.
“We are excited and absolutely peaking right now,” said Renner. “We are ranked number one in the state for Class A and I don’t think we’ll move from that number one spot. We’re cruising right now.”
Renner said the Grasshoppers are 6-0 in league play and 12-1 overall as of July 15. Their only loss was to Viroqua in the second game of a doubleheader July 6. The second games of doubleheaders don’t count in the league standings. Ironically, the team moved up from third to first in the state rankings that day.
Renner noted that Prairie du Chien hit 11 home runs last weekend in winning the North Crawford Tournament. He said Casey Hogenson has hit seven homers so far this season, and that Hogenson and Chas Sagedahl have been pitching really well.
Two top performers, Peyton Hall and Brogan Potter, have not been available due to being on the Team USA Junior roster. Should the Grasshoppers make it to the state championship game on July 31, Hall and Potter may be available, however.
“If they can play, we would be even more dangerous, if that’s possible,” said Renner. “We hope we can bring home the championship.”
