Elgin Post 57 advances to state finals

The baseball team representing American Legion Post 57 of Elgin continues to make winning look easy.

Post 57 hammered the host team from Lena 16-0 in seven innings to win the Second Division Tournament on Saturday.

The victory advances Elgin (26-9-1) to the American Legion state finals at Jim Sundberg Field in Galesburg July 27-29. It is the third state finals berth in Elgin Post 57’s history and its first since 1995.

Post 57 outscored its opponents 38-4 in 3 divisional games and has scored an average of 11.4 runs per game in 7 postseason contests.

“We knew we had a good hitting team, but we’ve really shored up our defense and our pitching has been just great,” Post 57 manager and general manager Bob Todd said. “You can’t ask anything more from a team.”

It was the second victory in a three days for Elgin Post 57 against Lena (23-4), which managed only 3 runs in 16 innings. Lena had previously scored 36 runs in 2 games against Streator and Barrington.

Hampshire graduate Ryan Burke pitched 5 innings of 1-hit baseball to earn the win for Post 57. Burke struck out five and walked two. South Elgin’s Tyler Rydin threw 2 innings of scoreless relief, striking out five with 1 walk.

“Lena was a good team, but I think our pitching put them in their place,” Todd said. “We really slowed them down. I think our pitching was much better than what they’re used to seeing. I have to give our pitchers credit. They didn’t give up a lot of hits and they kept their walks down.”

St. Edward graduate Jordan Torres, who plays junior varsity baseball at Marquette University, was the hitting hero in the title game. Torres smacked a 3-run home run, doubled twice and drove in 5 runs.

Other offensive contributors for Elgin Post 57 included Burke (3-for-3), Hampshire’s Nick Holze (2-for-3, 3 runs), Larkin’s Reid Ellis (2-for-2) and Elgin Community College second baseman Drew Stover, who went 3-for-5 and played solid defense throughout the tournament, according to Todd.

Burlington Central graduate Sam Klein (North Central College) was named Second Division Tournament MVP and was awarded a $1,000 scholarship. Klein pitched a complete game victory against Lena on Thursday and hit 3 home runs in the tournament, including 2 leadoff homers.

Post 57 will travel to Galesburg for a Tuesday night banquet, then play an opponent to be determined on Wednesday at noon.