Elgin Post 57 tourney continues at Wing
The Elgin American Legion Post 57 baseball club opens its season this weekend by hosing the 6th Annual Early Bird Tournament at Wing Park in Elgin.
The tournament, which began Thursday and continues through Sunday, features some of the area's best high school baseball talent.
Post 57 aims to win its third Early Bird title in six years with a mostly new group of players led by second-year coach Joe Morel.
The only holdovers from last season are 2007 Elgin graduate Andy Deal, and Elgin senior Tom Roth, one of five members of the 2008 Daily Herald Fox Valley all-area team included on the Post 57 roster.
A right-handed pitcher, Roth this season went 3-6 with a 4.17 ERA in 40½ innings. At the plate he hit .315 with 2 doubles, 5 home runs and 7 stolen bases.
Fellow Maroon Dan Schmerber (4 doubles, 5 steals) joins Roth on the roster, which includes four players from Burlington Central, four from Larkin three from Hampshire and one from St. Edward.
The Burlington Central contingent includes all-area catcher Austin Jarvis (.436, 5 2B, 6 HR), pitcher/first baseman David Hartwell (3-1, 4.53 ERA), pitcher/infielder George Heller (5-1, 2.33 ERA, .329) and infielder/catcher Bryan Bell (.376, 10 2B, 3 HR, 27 RBI).
Post 57 should thrive with two all-area pitchers from Hampshire. Junior Ryan Burke hit .370 with 5 doubles and 23 RBI and went 6-2 on the mound with an ERA of 1.87 and 43 strikeouts in 48¿ innings pitched. Larson (6-3) finished with an ERA of 1.76 and 54 strikeouts in 63¿ innings.
They'll be joined on the Post 57 roster by fellow Whip-Pur Jared Wienke, who saw limited time with the Hampshire varsity last season.
More pitching comes from Larkin in the form of all-area pick Tyler Shore (7-4, 2.28 ERA) and Luc Geier (4.06 ERA, 24 strikeouts). Speedy center fielder Justin Kalusa (.437, 5 2B, 4 HR) will be an offensive and defensive threat along with infielder/outfielder Joe Stace (7 doubles).
The Post 57 summer schedule features between 35 and 40 games, including a tournament in Wheaton (June 20-22), the Champaign wooden bat tournament (June 26-29), the fourth annual Plainfield tournament (July 3-6) and the county tournament, hosted by Elgin July 17-20.
Post 57 is still looking to add three or four more varsity players from Larkin, Elgin, Burlington Central, Hampshire and St. Edward High Schools. Interested players should contact general manager Bob Todd at (847) 741-9536.