Tuesday, June 5, 2007 1:11 AM CDT
Six back for Moultrie-Douglas County American Legion team this year
By MIKE MONAHAN , Staff Writer
mmonahan@jg-tc.com
TUSCOLA — Six players return for what is the second season of the Moultrie-Douglas County American Legion Post 479 (Arthur)-429 (Lovington)-27 (Tuscola) baseball squad.
Returning from last year’s 15-14 team, one that reached the championship game of the District 19 tournament, are two first-team all-Little Okaw Valley Conference players in Payton Judy of Homer, who graduated from Heritage and played for East Central, and Lovington graduate Michael Reed, who played for Arthur-Lovington. Others include 2006 Tuscola graduate Michael Corum, who was a first team all-LOVC outfielder in 2006; Arcola’s Jamison Miller, who is headed to play at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield and Tuscola’s Wil Maxey and Jonathon Williams. Maxey was a second-team all-LOVC infielder.
“Right now our pitching staff is great,” said MDC coach Brett Englehardt, a Tuscola graduate. “We have nine guys listed as pitchers, and that really something great. I don’t think a lot of teams can do that.”
Starting pitchers are expected to be Reed; Miller; and Williams, along with Tuscola’s Shasteen Shabrou; Joe Essig, a first team all-conference pitcher for East Central, who is to be a senior at Heritage; and Lovington’s Seth Sawyer, who played for Arthur-Lovington. Relief pitchers are expected to be Matthew Barnes, who is to be a senior at Heritage and pitched for East Central; Arcola’s Brett Poorman, a first team all-conference utility player; and Arthur’s Caleb Campos.
Reed was 2-5 for the 12-16 Knights, who finished 9-8 in the conference, but had an earned run average of 3.29 with 72 strikeouts in 55 innings. Miller was 3-5 for the 14-11 Purple Riders with 73 strikeouts in 46.3 innings. Shabrou was 4-4 for the 16-14 Warriors with 68 strikeouts in 49.3 innings, while Essig was 8-2 for East Central, a team that went 27-5-2 and won the LOVC, going 17-0. Sawyer was 3-3 for the Knights with a 3.56 earned run average. Poorman was 3-4 for the Purple Riders, while Campos was 1-2 for Arthur.
The team consists of six players from East Central, including first-team all-conference outfielder Jamison Lowe. Most of the players that played for East Central played for the Homer junior American Legion team in recent summers.
“Last year Judy could have played junior Legion, but we decided he was good enough to play with the senior Legion, and I am glad we made that decision,” said Englehardt.
Five players played under Jared Vanausdoll for Arthur-Lovington, two played under Jarod Kiger at Arcola and four are from Tuscola as the entire team of 17 is made up of players from the LOVC.
“It (cohesiveness) will come along,” said Englehardt. “Last year it was a work in progress. This year the older guys are back and having a lot of fun. The younger players see that and so, I don’t think it (cohesiveness) will take as long as it did last year. It takes a little time anyway.”
Englehardt, who coached the Arthur-Lovington Legion team two years ago that won the District 19 championship and has a record of 30-30, feels that Reed, Judy, Brian Krukewitt (East Central) and Miller are the top hitters.
“We are a little rusty with our bats,” said Englehardt. “They have had a couple of weeks off, but based on experience I would say Reed and certainly Judy made a name for himself last year. Brian Krukewitt is another guy who can put up good all-around numbers. Jamison Miller should be able to fit into the lineup with the other guys and help us out a lot.”
Reed batted .470 for the Knights with eight home runs and 40 runs batted in, while Miller batted nearly .390 for Arcola with four home runs and 15 runs batted in.
Englehardt feels strength of the team is the infield defense and the overall defense as well.
“In the infield I can probably pull named out of a hat on who can start and we won’t lose a thing all the way around,” said Englhardt. “In the outfield we have a lot of good leadership out there with Michael Corum and Wil Maxey. Our pitchers have been around the strike zone so far and I think our defense is good on communicating and that is usually the first thing you want to see. As along as our defense is stopping other teams we always have a chance. I think we will be very competitive and our defense can put pressure on the other teams’ offense.”
MDC is to open its season at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Tuscola’s Ervin Park against Danville in one nine-inning game. MDC is to play three home games at Tuscola and three at Arthur’s Jack Corum Field as well. The team is assisted by Mark Maxey, who is in his second year after coaching the Douglas County team prior to 2006. Travis Wilson, the Arthur superintendent, is the general manager.
“We treat the games prior to the Firecracker Classic (July 2-9 in Mattoon) like intense practices,” said Englehardt. “We try and get everybody to play in doubleheaders and I think that is the best way for them to learn. They will learn to be better by being in the batters box and not having me out there trying to say something when they are in sweatpants. Last year we used a completely different lineup in the Firecracker Classic than we had (defeated the 2005 Firecracker champions, Morton 4-1 in the tournament) and kept the lineup the same after that. Our number one goal is to have fun and improve their game a little bit and make friends within the conference,” said Englehardt. “I think it (legion ball) helps the conference and helps the ones that play in the spring.”
Contact Mike Monahan at mmonahan@jg-tc.com or 238-6854.
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