Local legion baseball teams set for playoffs | Local Sports

NEW ULM — After a grueling regular season schedule, the Mankato American Post 11 and Mankato National Post 11 legion baseball teams begin play today in the eight-team Sub-State, District 2 tournament in New Ulm.

American (13-9) drew the No. 1 seed and will face No. 8 Waseca in a 6 p.m. contest at Mueller Park while National (10-10) drew the No. 3 seed and will take on No. 6 Northfield in a 4 p.m. game at Johnson Park. The double elimination affair continues through Sunday.

Mankato National

Coach Jamie Mulvihill’s National team hopes to be a spoiler in the well balanced field of eight. A quartet of pitchers — left-hander Mason Schreiber (3-1, 1.57 ERA, 26 2/3 innings), Colten Bahl (3.38 ERA, 20 2/3 innings), Ben Hoehn (2-1, 3.73 ERA, 20 1/3 innings) and Dominic Murphy (3.75 ERA, 18 2/3 innings) — has helped National log a solid 3.27 team ERA.

“We’ve had a lot of close games against some quality teams,” Mulvihill said. “We had a lot of guys who have really stepped up for us. On the pitching side, we had guys who don’t typically pitch as much step up and eat a lot of innings. We’ve got a little shorter roster this summer but we’ve had a lot of guys come through. From the start of the year until now we’ve been pretty consistent.

“The guys have settled in and are taking better approaches at the plate. They’ve stayed aggressive and are looking for their pitches rather than the other way around. They’re a fun-loving group that is funny and great to be around. They come to games with smiles on their faces and that’s what you want as a coach. … You have to make the game fun.”

Catcher Emmitt Rentas has enjoyed a remarkable season for National, hitting at a lofty .540 clip with 23 RBIs and 12 runs scored. Center fielder Jayden Knutson carries a .385 average with 18 runs scored, while Schreiber totes a .328 average with 14 runs and 14 RBIs. Four other players — first baseman Brant Kenward (.286, 9 RBIs) left fielder Charlie Hudrlik (.277), infielder Avery Matejcek (.250) and Bahl (.225) — have been productive.

“Emmitt Rentas has been a beast for us,” Mulvihill said. “I really believe that this is anybody’s tournament to win. You have to be playing your best baseball at the right time so we’re hopeful we’ll be doing that. It will come down to pitching and defense. We’re taking better at-bats now so we just need to clean up our defense a bit. Hopefully, we can get some good pitching and make a run at this.”

Mankato American

Coach Collin Risting’s American squad will look to a bevy of pitching depth and a resurgent offensive attack to defend its title. Six pitchers — Caeden Willaert (3.25 ERA), Jake Langworthy (3.95), Nathan Bridger (1.29), Grant Quam (2.84), Owen Studtmann (3.43) and Alex Fast (4.10) — have pitched between 16 and 24 innings this summer.

“The driving force of our team is our pitching staff,” Risting said. “We have six guys I’d be willing to throw in any game that would give us a chance to win. There’s going to be some good competition in the tournament, but I feel with our quality depth, we’ll have a good chance of playing Saturday with the opportunity of going to state. There’s no situation that is too big for this group after all the big games they’ve played in.

“They’re ready for the task ahead of them. Early on we seemed to be a little burned out, but lately we’ve been firing on all cylinders and are playing good baseball against good teams. I think we had a big attitude adjustment and you can tell the guys are starting to have fun again. It was like a job early in the season and right now we’re having fun and we’ve got things rolling. Our guys have really responded and our lineup is pretty stacked one through nine.”

Leading American at the plate is outfielder Jack Hansen with a .375 average, 16 stolen bases, 16 runs scored and nine RBIs. Willaert, a slick-fielding shortstop, is hitting .329 with six doubles, two home runs, 14 runs and 16 RBIs. Outfielder/DH Caden Hansen has driven in a team-best 18 runs while hitting .275. Other top hitters include, Mason Diede (.319, 16 runs, 10 RBIs), infielder Zach Bosse (.317, 12 runs, 7 RBIs) and Studtmann (.312).

“Early on in the year we were trying to do too much instead of just taking care of business,” Risting said. “Our pitching kept us in most games, but our at-bats kind of let us down in some games. We’ve turned that around and when the top of the order clicks everyone clicks. … This is a great group of guys who want to play for one another.”

Catcher Austin Hendley (.229), Bridger (.222), infielder Logan Hasz (.262) and catcher/third baseman Koltin Kolbinger (.260, 13 RBIs) have also contributed.