Schugel in 'zone' for Gold

NEW ULM -- One of the reasons that New Ulm Legion Gold is in the driver's seat in the Second District American Legion baseball tournament being played in Jackson is because of the play of Gold shortstop Joey Schugel.

He has been unbelievable.

I don't know if the Second District keeps hitting records for their tournaments but what Schugel has done to destroy opponent's pitching is amazing.

In New Ulm's three games, all wins, Schugel is 9-for-11 with five runs scored and four RBI.

That is an .818 batting average.

The only time that Schugel has not reached base is in Gold's first game of the tournament when he grounded out to the pitcher. Other than that, he has reached base 10 straight times, one coming on an error in the Sleepy Eye game. He has made contact with the ball in every plate appearance, hitting from the clean-up spot for New Ulm Gold (16-12).

Needless to say, Schugel is seeing the ball at the plate extremely well.

"I haven't changed anything in my batting stance from high school ball," said Schugel, who played shortstop and second base this season for Cathedral. "I've kept the same thing going, but I am just seeing the ball extremely well (in the tournament)."

When a hitter is in the zone at the plate like Schugel, you hear that the ball appears as big as a beach ball with a "Hit Me" sign on it. That is the case with Schugel.

"Everything looks like it is coming right down the middle and I am getting good pitches to hit," he said.

In high school, Schugel started out the season with some hot hitting but hit a slump mid-way through the Hounds' season. He said that it may have been due to himself trying to do too much.

"I think that I out a lot of pressure on myself and tried to carry the team," he said. "I wasn't doing anything right; I was trying to get better but I was in a slump."

Cathedral head coach Bob Weier switched him from shortstop to second in an attempt to get Schugel to break out of his slump. "Coach thought that moving me to second would help me hit a little better; I don't think that it helped me -- I just got out of my slump at that time."

Schugel's play was was also affected somewhat by a football camp that he attended. Schugel will return as Cathedral's quarterback this season. "I had a sore arm after that camp, but it is fine now."

Schugel as also seen his team start to hit the ball well as a team, especially after the Detroit Lakes Tournament. "We lost to Bloomington Gold; it was a hard loss to take and we took the loss personal as a team. We started playing together."

That resulted in wins of 12-2 and 27-9 in the last two games of that tournament.

Now, Gold sets perched to earn their 22nd Second District title and a berth in the State Legion Tournament beginning August 3 in Duluth.

"We know that we are going to win; we will be ready to play," he said.

O'BRIEN RETURNS A KEY: When Scott O'Brien had surgery on his left knee on July 7, the question mark was who would take over his No. 3 spot in the lineup in tournaments. That turned out to be Ryan Walters, but O'Brien returned earlier than expected and made his first appearance in the opening round of the District Tournament.

And surgery and the off time did not cost him anything as he singled in his first at-bat and added a double later in the game.

But O'Brien was concerned prior to his surgery about when he would return to the Gold lineup.

"I didn't know if I was going to be able to come back and play or not," he said.

He hurt the knee in high school baseball when he twisted his ankle and knee when he tripped over first base in a game against Blue Earth. "The injury did not hurt me that much in high school; it was tight the first few games back but after that it loosened up. But I could feel that I could not run at full speed; I could not play 100 percent."

Despite the surgery, O'Brien is not shy about putting pressure on it. "It feels better every game."

When he left the lineup, he was hitting in that third spot but upon his return he was moved to the leadoff spot, where he has collected four hits and scored four runs.

"When I went out, they moved Ryan (Walters) to three (in the lineup); Ryan is hitting a lot better in that spot." he said. "Mitch (Stueber) had been hitting leadoff, but you cannot have courtesy runners in the playoffs. I could usually get on at leadoff and Ryan could hit me in. I could also steal. When leadoff, I see more fastballs and better pitches. I like leadoff a little better.

"We hit the ball well in Detroit Lakes and have really gotten it together."

GOLD OFFENSE ROLLS: In New Ulm's last five games, they have scored 12 runs (against Bemidji), 27 (against Detroit Lakes), nine (against Worthington in the first District game), 11 (against Sleepy Eye) and 10 against Blue Earth. They have given up a total of 13 which means they have outscored teams 69-13. In the district it is a 30-4 advantage.

NEW ULM TO BID FOR TOURNAMENTS: Post 132 will submit bids for the 2003 Second District and 2003 Regional Legion Tournament in the near future.

NEW ULMITES IN ARM WRESTLING: Randy and Jeremy Zimmermann of New Ulm and Courtland respectively had a good showing in the Osecola County FairArm Wrestling Championship. Randy finished third in both the right and lefthand competition while Jeremy had a second and a third in the lefthand competition.

Column by Jim Bastian, Journal sports writer