Leo Brunner Invitational (American Legion Baseball)

Leo Brunner Invitational
American Legion Baseball
Games at East Moline (UTHS), Moline HS, Augustana, & Alleman
7/3/10

I had been looking for something to cover on a long Fourth of July weekend. I have a three-day weekend off from the office, and having time off drives me crazy! In the days leading up to the weekend, I had forgot about the Leo Brunner Invitatational. It is a 14-team American Legion baseball tournament in the Quad Cities, which brings in some of the top Legion programs from the midwest.

I woke up Saturday morning with a funny throat. There is nothing else that can describe it, however, it is that feeling in your throat before the onset of the sore throat. I can always tell when I am going to get sick over the winter, because I get the uncomfortable feeling in my throat. It certainly wasn't like the winter throat, but probably more of a dehydrated throat. I drank a few tall glasses of water, and did some work on the website before heading north. The biggest thing I did, was get some sleep. I have been overworking myself most nights, and haven't got the sleep I should be getting. It was nice to get an extra couple hours of sleep with nowhere to be at a certain time.

It was a case of bad bathroom luck on my way to the Quad Cities. I drank a lot of water in the morning, and added a 16 oz. coffee for the trip. In gassing up in Monmouth, I went to use the bathroom. Two guys were in line. A line in a gas station men's restroom...a rarity. It wasn't an emergency, so I planned on hitting up the Casey's in Viola, about 20-30 minutes north on Route 67. There was a sign on that restroom door, that said the door didn't lock, but that didn't matter. Still....it was like a sign telling me not to use a public restroom, or something.

Without a schedule for the tournament, I had no idea where the games were, or what times they started. Galesburg Post 285 coach Steve Cheesman sent me the Galesburg schedule, and I didn't print it off. The only game I could remember for the day, was that they played at 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., but not sure what diamond.

This tournament is played at United Township in East Moline, Moline High School, and the Alleman Sports Baseball complex, which is just beyond the Augustana College diamond on John Deere Road.

I knew that Moline High School was a sure spot, so I drove over to the ball diamond. The previous game had just wrapped up (Palatine vs. Terre Haute). Palatine, is the defending Legion state champs, and they lost to Terre Haute. The volunteer running the gate gave me a schedule, and it was Northbrook and Kenosha (WI) that I would be watching with a noon start time.

The game was behind just a bit, as the first pitch wasn't thrown until about 12:15 (12:14 if I remember the P.A. announcer right). Speaking of the announcer, he did a great job, as I didn't even have to go to the dugouts to copy the lineup. He announced the lineups and did it in a slow manner, that I didn't even have to rush my writing. During the game, he did announce the Moline Legion Post by the wrong number, which drew many friendly catcalls from the Moline Legion volunteers.

My perch was on the bleachers just behind home plate, and slightly down the first base line. Today also marked the debut of my brand new IHSSN shirts from Lasermark in Galesburg. I ordered a couple of the wick (or whatever) material with the IHSSN logo, one black and one white. It's the Under Armour-type material.

Both Northbrook and Kenosha entered this game winless, 0-2 in the tournament. Both teams had nicknames, which isn't the case in the western Illinois area. Northbrook were the Braves, and Kenosha were the Merchants, which reminded me of adult slow-pitch softball.

Kenosha jumped out to a, 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Brendan Schultz reached base on a single and Jimmy Jones walkd. They scored on a Tyler Kohler 2-run single. When Northbrook batted in the bottom of the inning, neither base coach came out wearing a helmet. Before their leadoff hitter took the plate, the umps told them to put on a helmet. The first base coach (assistant coach) jawed with the home plate ump, and went to retrieve a helmet in the dugout. He called out from the dugout, "play ball!" The home plate umpire didn't take those words kindly, and responded, "Don't start with me." The first base coach, stayed in the dugout, while the Braves leadoff hitter, Ty Hurst, batted. He came out to his position for the #2 hitter.

Northbrook tied the game in the 3rd inning, when Matt Hart led off the inning with a basehit, and would later score. The next batter, pitcher Hank Erickson, walked, and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Rob Sackus.

I stated through the 4th inning, and the game was still tied, 2-2. In the bottom of the 4th inning, Northbrook had a great opportunity to break the tie. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, the Braves attempted, what appeared to be, a suicide squeeze. Mike Ahearn was caught up in the basepath, not even halfway to home plate, for the third out.

If I thought finding a schedule of games or a diamond hosting the tournament would be difficult....that was a cinch. Getting from Moline High School to the Alleman Complex was harder than....well...it was hard!

I left the previous game early, so I could grab a big bottle of water and some sunflower seeds, and get to Alleman to catch the end of the Macomb/Arlington Heights game. For some reason, I thought Alleman's diamonds were near the high school. I knew that was wrong, but I headed that way anyway. Before I did, I stopped at Phillips 66 in Rock Island and picked up a big bottle of water and a bag of seeds.

Two new items for me. The water was that Glaceau SmartWater. It has always looked enticing, but usually a but more expensive. It was a tall bottle, and the only other bottle was Evian. Evian was $0.10 cheaper, but I hate Evian bottled water. I have written about bottled water, and my preferences in a previous blog, so I will save you that. I will just say it's the bottle, not the water. I went with Glaceau, and then found a new bag of seeds! Sizzlin' Bacon by Big's brand sunflower seeds. David (the main brand of sunflower seeds) needs to take a page out of the other brand's books. Big's also has a resealable bag. I can't tell you how much of a headache, that sunflower seeds have caused me, from spilling out onto my passenger seat! Big's sunflower seeds....I salute you! By the way, they use Bacon Salt, in their Sizzlin' Bacon sunflower seeds, and they have already vaulted into my top 5 favorite seeds, possibly launching into the #1 or #2 spot. I still enjoy the Dill Pickle, but Sizzlin' Bacon is giving them a run for the money.

I drove to Alleman High School, and knew that wasn't where the ball diamonds were. I called my WAIK broadcast partner, Jimmie Carr, and asked him where the Alleman diamonds were. He explained it to me, though I was still a little unsure. I asked if it was by John Deere Road, and he said, no, but I could get to it off of John Deere Road. I knew that Augustana's field was right on John Deere Road behind Menards, so that threw me off. I headed to the campus of Augustana College, and there was nothing going on there.

Then, I headed back to get to John Deere Road, and ended up on Blackhawk Road. I grew up near the Quad Cities, so I am very familiar with the area, but not quite Rock Island. I drove down Blackhawk Road, and ended up over on Route 67, so I headed into Milan (way out of my way!).

I missed the Milan-Rock Island Beltway turnoff, since I have never gotten on the Beltway from the city of Milan, but the edge of Milan on the highway. I took Airport Road into Moline, and came out by SouthPark Mall. Instead of going through the mall, etc. traffic, I went straight (on whatever road I was on). About a half mile in, guess what, I passed a sign that read "Home of the Alleman Pioneers"! Hey, I made it...accidentally! I missed that driveway, so I turned around, and it was closed. There was another entrance. Hmmm....I knew it wasn't John Deere Road, which was nearby. I turned down the next road and drove, and couldn't see anywhere that would get me there. I saw a couple cars turn on a road, so I drove back around and took that road. It was the right one. Of course, I missed the driveway, since it was hidden. Was I meant to watch these games???

Just like the first game, I arrived early for the start of the game. This is good, since I can talk with the coaches, get lineups, settled in, etc. First, I walked up and scanned the premises, staking out a good place to shoot my video. I ran into Nick Leary's dad. Nick plays for Galesburg Post 285, and graduated last year (2009) from Monmouth-Roseville High School. We talked for a few minutes about the weekend's tournament, and how Galesburg has been playing.

I introduced myself to the Elk Grove dugout, looking to grab a lineup. I talked with the Elk Grove head coach, Brian Mucha, and got the lineup. Elk Grove also has a mascot, the Red Sox. One of their players asked, "Are you from ESPN?" Without hesitation, I replied, "Yup....just flew in from Bristol." Apparently, they didn't realize that Bristol, Connecticutt was where ESPN headquarters is. Coach Mucha got a good laugh.

Next up, was the Galesburg dugout. I talked with coach Steve Cheesman briefly, saying that Post 285 had played really well on Friday, but didn't have quite their "A" game against East Moline earlier in the day (Saturday). Still, they are 3-0 in the Leo Brunner Invitational.

Elk Grove enters with a, 10-6 record, and they are, 1-1, in the tournament. Galesburg is, 19-3, overall and, 3-0, in the tournament.

Pitchers are Nick Milligan (Galesburg) and Ryan Hayes (Elk Grove).

Galesburg got the scoring off in the 1st inning, with an RBI single by Caleb Weaver, that scored Nate Olin, who reached on a leadoff double. Post 285 made it, 2-0, in the 2nd inning, when Dalton Davis hit an infield single and scored on a Alex Lozano RBI single. In that 3rd inning, Elk Grove 3rd baseman Donnie Duschinsky made the first of two amazing plays. In this inning, he bent over backwards and made an awkward and extremely hard catch. Later in the game, he made a nearly impossible diving catch in foul territory along the rightfield line.

Post 285 added to their lead in the 3rd inning, plating 3 runs. Chad Johnson doubled, then scored on a RBI single by Jake Milligan. Nick Leary stepped up and launched a 2-run home run to make the score, 5-0.

More runs came in the 4th inning for Galesburg, as they reache the 10-run mark. Alex Lozano scored the first run, reaching on a walk. He scored on a 2-run blast by Zach McCrery. Caleb Weaver went back-to-back with a solo shot. Jake Milligan hit a single, followed by an infield single by Nick Leary. They scored on RBI singles by Dalton Davis and Derek Schwab.

Heading into the bottom of the 5th inning, Galesburg was just 3 outs away from putting Elk Grove way via the 10-run rule. But.....

Elk Grove plated six runs in the bottom of the 5th inning to extend the game, and put a scare into Galesburg. Tyler Ford led off with a single. Omar Bertagna struck out. Joe Dombek reached on an infield single. Connor McHuge hit an RBI single, followed by a 2-run ground-rule double by Donnie Duschinsky. Then, Tim Massat hit a 2-run blast to make it, 10-5. The final run was scored by Kevin Gannon, on an RBI ground rule double by Ryan Martinski.

In the 6th inning, I took a walk, as the Macomb American Legion Post 6 players were heading over. Macomb would battle Kenosha in the next game. I was looking for coach Brock Bainter, but he hadn't arrived yet. I talked with one of the Macomb players, and asked how they did against Arlington Heights. They had lost, 13-6 to Heights.

I found a new perch to finish out watching the game, just behind home plate. I was along the 3rd base line in the bleachers. Kenosha head coach, Peter DiGuardio walked up and we had a lengthy conversation. He told me about the conclusion of the earlier game against Northbrook, and talked about "Helmet-gate". DiGuardio was telling me that there are about four baseball teams in Kenosha that are pulling kids away, creating an interesting, and somewhat of a hard-feelings situation. He also mentioned that earlier this year, they had to make a six-hour trip from Kenosha to Alton in the same day as their game, and played pretty well, despite the jetlag.

As the 7th inning came around, I headed back over to my video-taking spot, and grabbed some more Galesburg offense, as they had really opened things up in the last inning. Carson Cheesman, an American Legion rookie, and a sophomore-to-be in high school, hit a 2-run single. That was followed by a Caleb Weaver RBI single, Jake Milligan RBI single, and Derek Schwab RBI single. The order came back to Cheesman, who cranked another 2-run single. That made the score, 19-6. During this inning, I overheard a fan say, "Frosty root beer", and the only thing I could think about was an A&W Root Beer Float. I knew there was an A&W fast food restaurant in the Quad Cities, but couldn't remember where.

I pulled out and Galesburg was still batting....and still driving in runs. Pulling away, I saw a 2-run single, that would have made it a, 21-6 game.

The A&W was on the outskirts of the Southpark Mall, which I realized without my Garmin's help. I remembered that it was in a joint building with Long John Silvers. I ordered a burger and a root beer float. Root Beer Floats to-go are not worth it! It was good...but I would much rather have one, homemade, or at least one out of a frosty mug....not one out of a small, flimsy fountain pop cup.

Driving out of town along the Milan Beltway, there were people everywhere, with lawn chairs, playing Bags, and just hanging out. It was 5:00, and these people had already staked claim on land to watch the Milan fireworks. Wow!