DELANO, Minn. -- The 2016 Minnesota American Legion State Baseball Tournament began with 16 teams all aiming for one of two spots in next weekend’s regional tournament in North Dakota. However, when fans arrive at the field, they only see the final product, not the behind the scenes preparations.
The State tournament committee granted VAVEL USA exclusive access to behind the scenes of day one of the four-day tournament, which is the largest state tournament in the nation.
Publication of the Gazette
As scores are final at other ballparks, they are reported into the state tournament headquarters, where they pass through Gail Kalata, who posts the scores on the tournament website. Kalata also has a hand in producing the media guides, as well as assisting with publication of The Gazette, which is an in-house daily newspaper produced by the state tournament committee and handed out at the fields.
The Gazette includes box scores of every game, compiled from large paper scoresheets that take up most of the press box. Once games end, someone runs the scoresheets back to the tournament headquarters, where after someone finalizes the totals they go to Matt Baker, who puts them into the state computer system.
After that, John Sherman pulls the summaries from the sheets and puts them in the Gazette. Mini recaps and stories are written by Sherman, with assistance from Al Zdon, the state baseball secretary. The daily gazettes are then normally sent to a print shop to be printed, but this year they are printed at a grocery store since there are no print shops close to the tournament site.
In addition to assisting with publication of the Gazette, Kalata takes the linescores and posts them on the state tournament website, where issues of the Gazette are also put, for fans who are unable to get to the tournament.
Opening ceremonies and tournament banquet
The first day of the tournament is always the busiest, as there are 16 teams playing at four sites, including two at the Delano Municipal facility. The teams arrive in town the day before the tournament begins for team check-in, along with opening ceremonies that this year included a home run derby, which was won by Joe Bernard of Princeton and “around the horn” competition, which was won by Grand Rapids. In the evening, the teams were treated to the opening banquet, where Mike Max of WCCO-Radio gave the keynote address.
Also at the banquet, multiple awards were given out, including the post of the year, which was given to the Princeton post, while Greg Nesbitt of Prior Lake was named coach of the year. Three people were also inducted into the state baseball hall of fame, including state director Mike Perry. Also going into the hall of fame were Mike Gort, who is the vice director, and Carl Wyczawski of New Ulm.
Process for getting a state tournament
The process for getting a state tournament is long but rewarding. It starts with a host site informing the state baseball director that they would like to make a proposal, at which point they would then have to make a proposal at the biannual board meeting, where the members then discuss and vote on whether or not to grant the state tournament to that site.
The 2017 state tournament will be played at CHS Field, and hosted by Tri-City Red. The 2018 tournament will be hosted by Edina, while the 2019 tournament will be hosted by Cold Spring.
Post-game responsibilities
Even though all of the games are over, and the stadium lights have been turned off, the work is just beginning for tournament staff, who have to finish the Gazette, finalize pitching records for the next day, and do other tasks before they can leave the park, which usually isn’t until around 2 a.m.
Tournament Notes
- In the very first game of the day, the Rochester Patriots defeated Waconia 1-0 in 16 innings on a walk-off single. Despite it being so long, it only took two hours and 45 minutes to complete.
- Princeton defeated Grand Rapids 5-1, with pitcher Sam Larson going the full nine innings to get the win. Larson gave up just the one run on three hits to lead Princeton to a first round win.
- Woodbury Blue became the first team to use the 10-run rule, as they defeated Edina 14-4 in a first-round game in seven innings.
- Wayzata also got into the act, as they defeated Fairmont 16-1 in their first-round game in a game that went the full nine innings.
- Edina was the first team to be eliminated, as they were defeated by Waconia 1-0 in their elimination game.
- Among the other teams to be eliminated on Friday were Fairmont, Delano, and Bemidji.
Among the teams who are undefeated are Woodbury Blue, Forest Lake, Hamline Purple, and Maple Grove.
The tournament continues through Monday when the championship game will be played. Fans can follow all of the action on the state tournament website, as well as on the Legion Baseball Hub.