Upper Midwest Classic celebrates 20th year

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- An American Legion baseball tournament that began in 1980 will celebrate the new millennium and its 20th birthday this weekend when the Upper Midwest Classic begins tonight in New Ulm and Sleepy Eye.

The Upper Midwest Classic is considered probably the top Minnesota Invitational Legion Tournament.

Twelve teams from five states will vie for the title in what appears to be another strong field.

Games begin tonight at Johnson Park and Sleepy Eye at 6 p.m. and will continue all day Saturday and Sunday and ending with the championship Monday at Johnson Park.

Here is a thumbnail sketch of teams participating in the tournament.

OMAHA BULLDOGS: The Bulldogs, coached by Marty Torrez, enter the tournament with a 17-10 record and are led in hitting by Ben Deas, who enters the tournament with a .500 (25-for-50) batting average. Aaron Boettcher is second with a .448 average with Josh Brandt third at .379.

Deas also leads in home runs with seven. Second is Darren Hoffart with four while Boettcher has three round-trippers. Hoffart, Brandt and Deas are 1-2-3 in runs with 25, 22 and 17 respectively, with Deas the leader in RBI with 29. Lee Kramolisch has driven in 25 runs and Boettcher 20. Hoffart is the team leader in doubles with 10 with Mike Stice and Jeff Hansen each having six doubles. Deas and John White have two triples each. Josh Brandt is the stolen base leader with 20 for the 'Dogs. Hoffart has 10 steals and Jeff Hansen nine.

Pitching-wise Omaha is led by Deas, who is 4-0 on the hill. In 26 innings, he has an ERA of 3.23. Jacob Eckley is 2-1 with a 3.73 ERA. Deas has 30 strikeouts with Boettcher whiffing 28. Chris Emanuel and Jacob Eckley have 28 and 20 strikeouts respectively.

COLD SPRING SPRINGERS: The Springers enter the tournament with a 9-7 mark under head coach Gabe Dahl. Josh Porwall leads the team in hitting at .375 and in hits with 21. He has six doubles and 16 RBI which is tied for the team lead. Rick Burtzell,Dan Wehlage and Gary Kleiss are all above the .300 mark in batting. Burtzell and Porwall each have six doubles.

Burtzell is also the Springers' top pitcher with a 4-0 mark and a low 1.07 ERA. Jason Schlangen and Randy Steil are each 2-1 with Schlangen boasting a 0.70 ERA. Steil's ERA is an inflated 7.2. Burtzell leads the team in strikeouts with 21 in 26 innings. The pitching as a team has an ERA of 2.70.

ROCHESTER A'S: Rochester is a familiar face in the tournament and always brings a strong team under head coach Keith Kangas, also the head baseball coach at Rochester Century High School. They enter the tournament with a 9-7 record and are led in hitting by Nate Eidem's .463 batting average and 11 RBI. Four other players -- Travis Krohn, (.422), Blake Kangas (.417), John Jans (.400), and Mike Persinger (.400) -- all provide offensive punch. Krohn was also the "Big Nine Baseball Player of the Year" this season.

The A's pitching staff is paced by Eric Rvopsa with a 3-0 record and a 2.96 ERA. Mike Badger is 3-2 and Don Lyons 2-0. Lyons has the lowest ERA at 1.47.

Krohn and Persinger are three-year starters for Kangas with the A's.

NEW ULM LEGION GOLD: Under head coach Dave Kunz, they enter with a 6-5 mark and are led offensively by Joey Schugel's .467 batting average. Mitch Stueber is second with a .462 average as the team as a whole is hitting .316. Scott O'Brien and Ryan Walters each have four doubles, with Schugel belting the lone home run so far. Walters leads the team in RBI with 10.

Walters is also Gold's top pitcher with a 3-0 mark having given up only two earned runs in 12 2/3 innings. He has 20 strikeouts, with Craig Spelbrink and Andy Stolt recording 13 and 12 respectively.

NEW ULM LEGION BLUE: They come into the tournament with a 2-7 mark, with John Colburn and Joey Penkert recording the two pitching wins. The pitching staff has an ERA of 7.30.

Mike Grossmann leads the team in strikeouts with 11, with Colburn having fanned six.

Robby Geistfeldt and Matt Furth are both above the .400 batting average mark with .440 and .429 averages respectively.

Paul Yager leads the team with two home runs. Geistfeldt, Nate Braun and Matt Schmidt all have 13 RBI. As a team, New Ulm Blue is hitting .259.

CREIGHTON PREP (CREIGHTON, NEB.): Coached by former Hutchinson player Pat Mooney, they come into the tournament with a 18-9 mark and a young team with just two seniors.

Mitch Larson leads the team in hitting at .446. He has 22 RBI, six doubles, five triples and three home runs. Steve Larson has a .423 batting average, Dan Kwasniewski is at .420 and Joe Pietro .365. Pietro leads the team in stolen bases with six.

Steve Larson and Jon Gordon are both 4-1 on the hill with Larson boasting a 1.53 ERA. In 32 innings, he has struck out 39 with Gordon whiffing 31 in 33 2/3 innings.

MANKATO POST 11: Jim Mulvihill's squad comes into the tournament with a 8-4 mark.

Ryan Kapsner leads the team in offense with a .467 batting average with Jay Nessler second at .429. Nessler leads the team in home runs with two and is tied with Joel Heitner in RBI with 11.

Jon Kozitza and Andy Garry lead in stolen bases with six and five respectively.

Jamie Mulvihill is 3-0 to lead Post 11 in pitching. In 19-plus innings, he has an ERA of 1.07 with 22 strikeouts.

PLOVER, WISC.: The Black Sox come in at 17-4 (8-0 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference).

They are led in pitching by Josh Owens, who is 4-0. Ben Petersen is 4-1 with Kyle Bohm and Brent Thauer each recording two wins. Bohm also has three saves.

Bohm, Chad Kingston, Steve Wiczek and Josh Owens are all batting between .350 and .500. Bohm has six home runs with Wiczek and Kingston each hitting five round-trippers.

SAULT STE. MARIE, MICH.: The Travellers enter with a 3-9 mark as their high school season has just ended. The Travellers combine two high schools together for the team. SSM finished 12-20 while Red Ridge, located near Sault Ste. Marie, ended 20-12. The Travellers once again make the 13-hour jaunt to New Ulm.

Editor's Note -- No reports were received from Sioux Falls or Sleepy Eye.