ClassBEast wrote:North Dakota American Legion Class B state tournament: Casselton team carries 32-5 record into tourney
By: Kevin Schnepf, INFORUM
Scott Radloff knows all about hitting the baseball.
He still holds three records at Valley City State with a .387 career batting average, 131 career runs batted in and 52 RBIs in one season.
He was a minor league most valuable player before he was released by the Cincinnati Reds.
Twenty-five years later, Radloff is coaching a Casselton American Legion baseball team that is batting .412.
“The starters are hitting .439,” said Radloff, whose Casselton team takes a 32-5 record to this week’s North Dakota Class B state tournament in Grafton. “I would say without a doubt, hitting is the strongest part of our game this summer. I knew we had a good team but I never would have dreamt we would hit this good.”
Why such gaudy batting statistics, which has helped Casselton average 10 runs per game?
“We are a very experienced team,” said Radloff, in his seventh season as Casselton’s coach. “We’ve got 18- or 19-year-old kids who have been around the block.”
Seven of those players were on the 2008 Casselton team that won a state championship. Four players have come back from college to play this summer.
One of those players is Brandon Rust, Casselton’s leadoff hitter who has a .506 batting average.
“He’s dynamite,” Radloff said. “I think he is one of the best players in the state.”
Jacob Mogen and Sam Schumacher, who play at Dakota State, are hitting .462 and .449, respectively. Mike Rose, who plays at Concordia, is the cleanup hitter boasting a .522 average.
There’s more: Jack Wilcox (.440), Alex Jacobson (.463), Jalen Ham (.438), Zach Prante (.328) and Beau Sinner – the 2008 Legion player of the year who has bounced back from taking a bottle rocket in his year last year and shoulder surgery this year.
“He started the season 1-for-19, now he’s batting .292,” said Radloff, who was hoping Sinner could pitch before undergoing shoulder surgery.
Nonetheless, Radloff has gotten steady pitching performances from Rust (6-0 record with two one-hitters), Jacobson (6-0 with two no-hitters), Rose (5-1) and Schumacher (5-1).
Casselton will play a 4 p.m. opening round game Wednesday against Watford City – a team making its first state tournament appearance in 50 years.
“That doesn’t mean anything … look what we did two years ago,” Radloff said of his team’s 2008 championship when it was making its first state tourney appearance in 41 years.
“That’s when we could sneak up on people,” Radloff said. “Now, the target is on our back. We’ve been getting the teams’ best chuckers thrown at us.”
So far, it hasn’t been enough to stop that .400 hitting.
**********
This article needs a few clarifications: Schumacher and Mogen will play baseball at Dakota State this upcoming year (they just graduated from Central Cass this year). Rose will play football at Concordia next year (also just graduated from HS). I don't believe he is playing baseball for Concordia.
lovwatchingsports wrote:any radio stations
ClassBEast wrote:You're right about Dakota Wesleyan instead of Dakota State, but Mike Rose is playing football at Concordia.
gobison#6 wrote:Just a question. Who won the section that Enderlin plays in? Because I know last year Casselton, Enderlin, and Lamoure were all in the same region for high school but not legion so they all made it to state. When the 16 yr. old junior teams dropped out did Enderlin's section gain Lamoure?
rkmt wrote:gobison#6 wrote:Just a question. Who won the section that Enderlin plays in? Because I know last year Casselton, Enderlin, and Lamoure were all in the same region for high school but not legion so they all made it to state. When the 16 yr. old junior teams dropped out did Enderlin's section gain Lamoure?
actually VC won the section. Fairmount/Hankinson beat VC in the opening round, and then beat Enderlin in a subsequent round. Meanwhile VC strung wins together including giving Enderlin their second loss and beating Wahpeton twice for the title. You can see the sections here:
http://www.ndlegion.org/baseball/baseball.htm LaMoure is still sec 2
Flip wrote:So do teams like the Mandan A's and Fargo Bombers not compete and Class B any more? and if so how long has it been like this?
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests