Coaches and players are at their wit's end this week as Duluth American Legion baseball wraps up its regular season play. The bottom line: For now, the top team is anybody's guess.
With district playoffs starting Wednesday, the local battle promises to be intense.
Duluth fields three American Legion teams: the West Duluth Cubs, the Duluth Central Angels and the Duluth Lakeside Legion. Add the Hermantown Grizzlies to the mix and Cubs' coach Chuck Hagberg says, "You just wouldn't believe the game of baseball you can see played around here."
Hermantown's bats lead the local pack with rock solid scoring, but just barely. The Central Cubs and Lakeview rosters have some of the league's best players, yet both teams have taken recent losses on the road in Ely and Detroit Lakes. Homing in on the tail wind of the action is the energetic West Duluth Cubs, an experienced team that has played together for years.
Beginning Wednesday, the four local clubs will face off against perennial heavyweight Grand Rapids, plus teams from Cloquet, Hibbing and Virginia. The Hermantown Grizzlies will host much of the play-off games at Hermantown High School. One lucky, winning team will travel to Excelsior for a bid at the state title on Aug. 3.
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Despite wins against talented clubs like Grand Rapids, Hermantown's coach Corey Kemp downplayed his team's recent success. Kemp said that even though the Grizzlies have exceeded early season expectations, only the sheer number of Grizzly RBIs has kept the team ahead. He thinks the Grizzlies have yet to flex their defensive muscles. "Our bats have saved us," Kemp said.
Hermantown's coach pointed to the Central Angels as the team to watch and praised the talented Angel base running.
Angel's coach Kenny Kolquist attributed his team's blazing speed to lead-off hitters Noah Pauley and Tom and John Hannah. "We definitely like them -- they're the fastest base runners in the league," Kolquist said.
Kolquist also said pitcher Ben Heggestad of Lakeview is the league's big standout. Heggestad, an '06 graduate from Duluth East, will go on to play for Central Iowa in the fall. The 6' 7" hurler said that he feels honored by the local attention he gets, but when it comes to successful pitching, "you just hit your spots."
Lakeview Legion's Coach Tom Simonson said that with an average velocity of 84 mph, Heggestad's fastball should do just that. Simonson added that despite pitching talent, his team's biggest strength is endurance. "We've only got 11 players, so if we lose one guy, we're out," said Simonson.
Team dynamics provides the power for the West Duluth Cubs as well. The underdogs round out the bottom of the pack so far, but coach Chuck Hagberg said that won't be for long.
Hagberg said that many of his players have played together since junior high. "My guys truly love to play baseball and they play great as a team," said Hagberg. "Standouts? We don't play with that mentality."
Hagberg said the caliber of American Legion baseball played around the area is outstanding.
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Legion District 8 tournament action begins Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. Hermantown will host the No. 1 seed team vs. the No. 8 seed team. The district championship game is slated for Saturday, July 22, at 2:30 p.m. in Hermantown. Times and locations are subject to change.
