MILBANK – With American Legion baseball celebrating its 100-year anniversary this year, Milbank gets the honor of hosting the State B American Legion Tournament, being the birthplace Legion baseball.
Along with that Milbank also gets an automatic bid to the state tourney as the host team. This year means a little bit more in the history books.
“It’s kind of a unique year for us with the 100th anniversary and I think we’ve stressed it to the kids this year that this is 100 years. You’re never gonna celebrate the 100 years again, so really cherish this season,” said Ron Krause, Milbank coach. “Hosting it is a big thing. We’re in front of our home field and our home crowd, and we hope that it means a lot to the kids.”
Milbank has already hosted several tournaments this summer, and will top it off with the State B tourney this weekend.
“We’re excited to be able to host it. I mean we’ve had a very busy summer so far and we’ve had three tournaments up until now,” said Krause. “Now we’re gonna cap it off with the State B tournament and we’re real excited about being able to host it, and hopefully we can do well in the tournament. You never know what happens till the end.”
They squad is prepared for the event with the help of the battle-tested players that have already been through a couple summers of American Legion ball.
“I have six or seven last year players that the pressure’s gonna be on, and I’ve done it all season long,” Krause said. “This is your last go around in American Legion ball. I said, ‘It’s on your shoulders to play well and share that wealth of playing.’”
Krause mentioned a pair of players who he expects to be leaders during the tournament.
“I have some guys like Joe Schulte, whose been with me for four years. Josh Peterson has played with me for three, almost four years,” Krause said. “Those guys, I put a lot of emphasis on them to be the leaders and get out and get things done for us. Kind of lead the team.”
Krause says that the Milbank pitchers will need to be able to find the strike zone in order to be successful.
“We’ve gotta throw strikes. It’s a big thing. We got two good starters in Reese Rabe and Joe Schulte. They’re both good, hard throwers who’ve had some control issues in games this summer. We’ve worked on that,” Krause said. “Who can throw the most strikes and pound the zone and make other teams have to make plays. Those things like that.”
In addition to pitching, Krause knows his team’s offense will also have to produce.
“Attack the strike zone. If they’re gonna throw a strike, we own the zone, we’ve got to hit the ball. That’s kind of the emphasis we’ve put forth and we’ve been putting it in practices now,” Krause said. “That’s two big things is pitching and hitting. Defensive wise, I think we can play with anybody, but we’ve gotta do those two things well.”
Milbank will take on Scotland-Menno-Freeman-Canistota under the lights at 7:30 Friday night in the first round of the tourney. The two have yet to see each other this season.
“I don’t know a lot about them. A lot of coaches will say that I gotta do some scouting and all this. I said ‘The less I know, the better I can prepare my team,’ because we gotta be prepared for anything,” Krause said. “Be ready from the first pitch to the final pitch is what we have to do and I’ve stressed that to the kids.”
With such a tight field, Krause thinks the state title is up for grabs, but noted the defending champion can’t be overlooked.
“Dell Rapids is the defending champion. … but it’s really a wide-open tournament,” Krause said. “All my feelings are is if you got to the state tournament, you’re legit. Any one team can win it on a given day. But I would say Dell Rapids is the unsightly favorite, but the other teams there are gonna give them a run.”
He picked Groton as a team to keep an eye on.
“Groton is really gonna be a sleeper team, I think. I’ve seen them play all year long and their pitchers throw strikes,” Krause said. “They force you to hit the baseball and they play good defense, so they could make a run at it.”
The atmosphere promises to be electric in Milbank with the 100-year celebration culminating with the State B Tournament.
“To be the team of the 100th year is very special. I’ve been coaching for about 35 years, and I’ve been blessed to coach my sons, my grandsons and going forward, everybody says ‘When you gonna be done?’” Krause said. “I said ‘Well, you know when it’s not fun’ and the aspect of American Legion’s all about, makes it more of a cherished thought for me to stay in it, because of what it stands for and what it’s done for Milbank.”
