From the sidelines
While the 12-year-old Cal Ripken Midwest Plains Regional tournament will dominate Marion July 25-31, another tournament with a set of talented teams will invade Marion this weekend.
The Babe Ruth 16-18-year-old district tournament will be at the Marion Baseball/Softball complex this weekend, and will include teams from Abilene, Hesston, and other area schools.
One team with a little Marion flavor will be playing as well. The squad from Hillsboro contains players from four towns, including Wil Case, Calvin Jeffrey, and Brian Fruechting of "The Town Between Two Lakes."
Heading into the tournament the team is sporting a gaudy 20-1 record, and an extreme confidence against any team that digs into the batter's box.
Head coach Tim Hein said it would be a disappointing season if his team didn't at least give itself a chance to win state by at least qualifying.
Of course, if Hillsboro is to lose this weekend, I'm sure Hein would still be proud of his team.
Not only is its record gaudy, but Post 366 is crushing its opponents.
In three tournament games and a doubleheader in Salina late last month, Hillsboro outscored its opponents 59-5.
They won one doubleheader with combined scores of 30-0 and another 44-0.
The team has a nice balance of hitting, pitching, and defense according to Hein, and, while I will confess I have not seen them in person yet, they sound as scary as any team around.
So, this weekend, when I finally set eyes on Post 366 at the district tournament, I hope to personally experience its dominance.
It's good for Marion that the tournament is coming to town, and it's good that players from four towns (Hillsboro, Lehigh, Marion, and Chase County) represented by the team, are working together to play some darn good baseball.
We were able to enjoy one American Pastime this past week, so here's to another.
Good luck guys!
