Teams preparing for the unknown

Five teams are in about the same ballpark heading into Thursday — they don’t know much about each other.

Liberty Park Stadium and the Sedalia Post 642 junior Legion baseball team will play host to the 2008 Missouri AA State Tournament, which starts Thursday and could run into Sunday.

“Hopefully being at home, we’ve got a little relaxation factor there about being at home and they’re not too tight,” said Sedalia coach Jeff Mays, whose team is 34-4 overall on the season and has suffered just one loss at home this year. “We’re hoping that’ll help some.”

Coming to Sedalia to vie for the state championship are Ste. Genevieve Post 150, St. Charles Post 312, Oak Grove Post 379 and the Nevada Red Sox.

All five teams have several similarities, but the main common theme is they don’t know much about their state opponents.

St. Charles (26-9) hasn’t played any of the five teams in the junior Legion tournament, but it has plenty of confidence after winning the biggest district in the state.

“Right now, we’ve won six in a row, all in playoff situations,” said St. Charles coach Dale Hallemeier. “Our district is comprised of 16 teams, which I’m certain is the biggest district in the state. We look at that as a big accomplishment getting through our own district.”

Post 312 had five players make the all-district team and coach Hallemeier said he expects them to make an impact at Liberty Park. Pitcher/first baseman Tyler Paule, third baseman and closer Eric Stross, catcher Jimmie Culley, center fielder Daulton Hillemann and shortstop Joe Hallemeier are the team’s top players.

Based on history, Ste. Genevieve may be considered the favorite entering the tournament — even though it hasn’t played another team in the tournament this year.

“They’re back at it again,” coach Mays said. “I think the four (zone winners) are very strong.”
Post 150 (25-3) is the defending state champion, returns five players from last year’s club and enters the tournament with the fewest losses.

“All of that probably doesn’t mean much because none of us play the same competition all year, so you can’t read a whole lot into that,” Ste. Genevieve coach Steve Bieser said.

Ste. Genevieve’s success starts with its leadoff hitter, Cole Bieser. The speedster is expected to commit to Southeast Missouri State University in the early signing period in November, following in his father’s footsteps.

“He’s kind of been the catalyst for us,” Coach Bieser said. Steve Bieser went to the same college and saw some time at the major league-level with the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates. “He’s just a high on-base guy and plays the game pretty well.”

Post 150’s other returning players from the championship team are Jason Bloom (second base/third base/pitcher), Nathan Geile (shortstop/pitcher), Aaron Basler (catcher) and Mike Greminger (pitcher/third base/right field).

Nevada (31-12) has only seen Oak Grove during the regular season. The Red Sox won both games and coach Jim Rayburn said he thinks knowing less about opponents could be a blessing.

“Sometimes I prefer it that way, I kind of like that,” Rayburn said. “It’s a guessing game, it’s just whoever guesses right maybe gets lucky. A lot of times I prefer not knowing because sometimes when you know something, you’ll outguess yourself.”

Rayburn said he thought his club was well balanced and pointed to his middle infielders — shortstop Austin Baldwin and second baseman Ross Wolfe — as team strengths. Nevada also features a staff of four pitchers that Rayburn places on about the same level.

Oak Grove probably enters the tournament with the lowest expectations. Post 379 finished as the Zone 2 runner-up behind Sedalia and is 0-6 against state foes.

“We’re a 15-year-old team in a 17-year-old league,” Oak Grove coach Wade Franklin said. “It’s a good bunch of kids ... but we’re 15 years old.”

Post 379 is in the neighborhood of .500, according to the coach, and has talented players in Jordon Oddo (third base/pitcher), Nate O’Neill (first base/pitcher) and Cody Lucas, who plays just about every position.

The tournament opens at 3 p.m. Thursday with Ste. Genevieve taking on St. Charles, with the winner set to face Sedalia at 8 p.m. Oak Grove will face Nevada at 5:30 p.m. in Thursday’s other game.

davis@sedaliademocrat.com