Pop Flies II DUGOUT CHAT Parker Knox - 06.29.2001

CHIEFS GO FOR A REPEAT: Nobody had ever repeated as champion of the Koester Memorial Tournament until the Rapid City Post 22 Split Squad did it in 1999 after winning in 1998. Now the Mandan Chiefs have a chance to do so, returning to Hyde Stadium
July 6-8 to try to do again what they did a year ago. Mandan edged the Splitters 5-4, beat Spearfish 7-4 and topped Pierre 10-5 last year to enter the championship game against the Split Squad and won there 11-5.
Valley Springs, Sturgis and the Split Squad will all be back again as well. Huron joins the field for the Koester, replacing Spearfish.
Each team will play three games between Friday morning and Saturday night, then records and a set of other criteria will determine the pairings for Sunday's fifth-, third- and first-place games.
So far as Post 8 is concerned, its own tournament has not been smooth sailing for the home squad in recent seasons. After going 3-2 in 1996 and 3-3 the following year, Post 8 lost all three of its games in the Koester in 1998. Pierre improved a bit to 1-3 in 1999 and then to 2-2 last summer.
Mark Livermont and Jason Rumpca were the pitching winners as Post 8 defeated Sturgis for its two wins in last year's affair.
Through 11 years of Koester Memorial Tournament play, Post 8 stands with a winning record of 27-21.

PIERRE RECORDS VS. OPPONENTS: Here is how Pierre stands against each
opponent it has ever faced in the Koester tournament:
4-2 vs. Wakefield, Neb.
3-2 vs. Rapid City Post 22 Split Squad
3-4 vs. Northern Hills
3-0 vs. Miller
2-0 vs. Sturgis
2-1 vs. Valley Springs
2-1 vs. Sioux Falls Roadrunners
2-2 vs. Aberdeen
1-0 vs. Wagner
1-0 vs. Dell Rapids
1-0 vs. Norfolk, Neb.
1-0 vs. Valentine, Neb.
1-0 vs. Gillette, Wyo.
1-1 vs. Bismarck, N.D.
0-1 vs. Sioux Falls West
0-1 vs. Spearfish
0-1 vs. Watertown
0-1 vs. Huron
0-1 vs. Rapid City Post 320
0-3 vs. Mandan, N.D.

POST 8 HOME RUNS IN THE KOESTER TOURNAMENT:
1990: Derrick Larson, Christian Hess, Damon Parks, Dick Koester.
1994: Brandon Conzemius.
1995: Tom Pier, Gary Redden.
1996: Gary Redden.
1997: Gary Redden, Jesse Beesley (2), Shane Prunty.
1999: Justin Sarvis.
2000: Brandon Cruse.

THE SCHEDULE FOR THE KOESTER TOURNAMENT:
Friday, July 6:
* Noon: Huron vs. Sturgis.
* 2:30: Mandan vs. Rapid City Post 22 Split Squad.
* 5:00: Sturgis vs. Valley Springs.
* 7:30: Pierre vs. Valley Springs.
Saturday, July 7:
* 10:00: Sturgis vs. Mandan.
* 12:30: Huron vs. Rapid City Split Squad.
* 3:00: Valley Springs vs. Rapid City Split Squad.
* 5:30: Pierre vs. Mandan.
* 8:00: Pierre vs. Huron.
Sunday, July 8:
* 11:00: 5th-place game.
* 1:30: 3rd-place game.
* 4:00: Championship game.

NO PRETENDERS TO THE THRONE---NOT YET ANYWAY: If Sioux Falls Post 15 East is "the best of the rest"---that is, the best of South Dakota American Legion teams except for Rapid City Post 22---thenwhere does that leave Pierre Post 8?
Right up there with them apparently becaue Pierre played East dead even in their four-game series at Hyde last week. The teams split four games, but Post 8 could have---perhaps should have---won one of the two it lost, the 2-1 heartbreaker when Dalton Decker pitched a complete game and deserved the pitching win. East outfielders made three run-saving diving catches that game, and Post 8 batters couldn't mount any kind of attack to back up Decker with some runs.
But back to where we were starting with this. Up in the press box the other night, we were talking about whether East could possibly contend with Post 22 for the state title. Can anybody?
Not at this point.
But strange things happen occasionally. It is not necessarily the truth that to be a state champion you have to beat Post 22 twice---not if somebody else upsets them along the way in the state tournament and then you do it yourself on championship day. That's how Mitchell accomplished the feat here two years ago. Yankton, of all teams, beat Post 22 in extra innings on Friday, so Mitchell had to beat Post 22 only once, which they did on Sunday.
So if Post 15 East is the best of the rest, then so is Pierre and so is Aberdeen and Watertown and Mitchell and a couple of others. It could be a very interesting and competitive state tournament, and we've got it in our ballpark!
It seems as if darn near everybody is playing just .500 baseball or slightly better while Post 22 is rolling merrily along with a 30-9 record heading into six straight days of home games against some of the nation's best Legion ballclubs in the Firecracker tournament. Post 22 started the year with a 20-1 record, then went through a tough stretch against out-of-state foes during which it lost 8 of 13 games, but then corrected things with a five-game sweep in its Kilpatrick tournament last week against out-of-state foes.

WHOM MIGHT WE PLAY? Since Post 8 doesn't have to worry about qualifying for the state tournament, it's not jumping the gun by wondering who Pierre's first-night opponent will be. One thing is for sure: it will be Huron, Aberdeen, Watertown, Brookings or Sioux Falls West, whichever of those five clubs is the runner-up in Region 1.
Watertown swept Aberdeen this week to get up over .500 again with a 14-12 record. The Smittys then split with Milbank to go to 17-11. Matt Reich continues as the ace of the Aberdeen pitching staff, throwing a 3-hitter at Milbank while striking out 12. Huron, which plays a schedule with as many "B" opponents as "A" teams, had a 12-12 record at midweek. Sioux Falls West has lost three-fourths of its games. Brookings is also hovering around the .500 mark.
How has Pierre done against the teams it might have to play first in the state tournament? We have split two games with Aberdeen, won once and lost twice against Watertown, beat Brookings once heading into this weekend's four games there, and split a pair with Huron. Pierre doesn't play Sioux Falls West until late in July.

A QUICK CHECK OF THE OTHER REGIONS: Down in the southeast in Region 2, the two qualifiers are likely to be Sioux Falls East (with whom Pierre has split four games) and either Mitchell (whom Post 8 has beaten three out of four games) or Valley Springs. Mitchell swept Valley springs this week to improve to 14-10.
Out west in Region 3, the two qualifiers will be Post 22---a foregone conclusion---and probably Post 320 although Sturgis might prove to be a spoiler.
Speaking of Post 320, after a long arduous road trip which saw them lose ballgames and players due to injuries, they went home and swept Alliance, Neb., this week. There was a scary moment when shortstop Tyson Karn was hit in the face with a pitch and had to leave the game. Post 320 will spend the Fourth of July at a tournament in Miles City, Mont.

NEXT WEEK IN JAMESTOWN: Pierre starts play in the Jamestown tournament at 5:30 Thursday, July 12, against Coon Rapids, Minn. Friday's opponents will be Jamestown at 10 a.m. and Minneapolis Hellenic at 12:30. Then it's a long wait until a 5:30 Saturday game against Grand Forks. Pierre will also play a game on Sunday before coming home.