Tuesday, June 2, 2009 7:09 AM CDT
Kansas senior Legion team back in action
By SCOTT RICHEY, Staff Writer
KANSAS -- Baseball players from Charleston, Kansas, Oakland and Arcola now have another option this summer instead of filling out senior legion teams in Mattoon or Toledo.
Kansas Post 539 has re-instated its senior legion team for the first time in several years, and the program is now complete after the junior legion team was started two years ago.
“Basically we wanted to provide the opportunity for more than 30 or more boys to play baseball beyond junior Babe Ruth,” Kris Phipps said. “We thought that utilizing the legion gives them good quality competi-tion and good access to tournaments.“
Al Lord, the coach for the senior team, said one of the reasons the senior legion team was brought back was to give more players the opportunity to play legion baseball than the few that filled out other area teams.
“They have full rosters as it is,” Lord said about other area legion teams. “Some of (Post 539’s players) still have three to four years of high school left. That’s going to help make them better ball players, (and) that’s what we’re hoping for in doing this.“
The senior team played Sunday at Mahomet and won both games of the doubleheader, 17-6 and 12-1, against a shorthanded Mahomet team. Brad Wheeler was 3-for-3 in the first game and hit two home runs, and six Post 539 players had two hits each in the second game.
Next up for Post 539 is a doubleheader against Effingham scheduled for today at 6:30 p.m at Baker Field in Charleston.
Phipps, who is the manager of the legion program, said the primary goal of the program is to make sure the senior legion team stays active instead of disappearing like it has in the past.?
“I think a lot of times when you lose your top players to other programs, you’ll lose interest,” Phipps said. “That’s one thing that we’re striving not to do. We want to keep the kids that we have with us and make it where they want to be here and playing with Kansas Post 539.“
Lord, who coached junior high and high school baseball in Kansas for 15 years, said having the legion team back is good for the kids involved because they get to improve their skills, but like Phipps, he said he wants to make sure the team stays active.
“It reaches a point where, Kris and I both have sons on the team and by no means are we looking necessarily for a retirement in a couple of years, but you do need to be surrounded by people who think like you do and want to do this for the kids and the game of baseball,” Lord said. “Hopefully each year or couple of years you’re bringing new people into the fold or others are moving up and continuing to be a part of the process.“
The majority of Post 539 consists of former and current Charleston baseball players who were part of a Trojans’ team that finished the past high school season with a 22-11 record.
Joining the Charleston players on the team are Curt Washburn and Cody Meyer, who played at Tri-County, and Garrison Stenger, who played at Arcola. Washburn pitched game one of Post 539’s doubleheader against Mahomet and had 13 strikeouts. Phipps said Meyer (a pitcher and infielder) and Stenger (Arcola’s top pitcher) would also help the team.
“They’re going to be prominent contributors,” Lord said of the non-Charleston players. “They were very good players at their high school level, and they’re going to blend in very well with our boys.“
In addition to the local players, Post 539 also has one player who recently moved to the area from Lepanto, Ark.
Lando Bass, who will primarily be a catcher for Post 539, hit .476 with six home runs and 42 RBIs to lead East Poinsett County High School to a 25-7 record this past season and a trip to the Arkansas 2A state quarterfinals. He will play baseball next season at Olney Central College.
“They’re giving him a hard time all ready,” Phipps said jokingly about the team’s interactions with Bass. “I told him, ’When they’re giving you a hard time, you know they like you.’“
Both Phipps and Lord said they expect the senior legion team to be competitive this summer despite being a first-year program.
“I anticipate good things,” Phipps said. “Being a first-year program you hate to brag too much, but I think we’ll see good things out of the program.“
Lord agreed.
“I’d like to think that we’re going to be competitive,” he said. “We’ll be young, but I think we’ll be able to compete game in and game out.”
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