Stratford Legion to state!
Summer team headed to state in its first year
By Casey Krautkramer
It’s a summer full of firsts for Stratford’s Legion baseball team.
Not only is this the first summer that Stratford has fielded an American Legion baseball squad, but the team also won its first American Legion Class A regional tournament last weekend in Wittenberg to qualify for its first American Legion state tournament this weekend in Prairie du Chien.
Henry Zaleski was the winning pitcher in Stratford’s 5-0 victory against Tomahawk to start the Class A regional in Wittenberg. Brady Schmidt was the wining pitcher in Stratford’s 5-3 victory against Wittenberg and Braeden Schueller was the winning pitcher in Stratford’s 8-3 victory against Marathon.
Stratford’s American Legion team now has a 19-4 record heading into its first Class A state tournament game against Denmark at 4 p.m. this Friday, July 28, in Prairie du Chien.
Chandler Schmidt, a Stratford baseball alum who is a relief pitcher for Division 2 Winona State in Minnesota, is the Stratford American Legion team’s head coach. His father, Curt Schmidt, is the assistant coach. Chandler Schmidt is impressed with everything the Legion squad has accomplished so far this summer.
“It has been a pleasure to coach this group of guys,” he said. “We have something special going on right now in Stratford. I’d like to say thank you to Drew Spaeth and Curt Schmidt for putting this team together and helping me out.”
Post 469 ends its season
Marathon’s American Legion Post 469 baseball team concludes its season with a 25-9 record after failing to advance out of last weekend’s Class A regional tournament in Wittenberg.
Post 469 beat Rib Lake, 10-0, in the first regional game. Reed McCain was the winning pitcher. Marathon’s leading hitters were True Thurs with a double and two RBIs, Grant Warren batting two for four with a pair of RBIs, Cooper Hoeksema and Blake Underwood each batting two for three and Evan DeBroux with a double.
Marathon lost to Rib Lake, 5-2, in its second regional game. Drew Woelfel was the losing pitcher. Cale Quaintance batted a perfect two for two at the plate. Post 469 also lost to Wittenberg, 3-2. Tyler Underwood suffered the pitching defeat on the mound. Blake Underwood batted two for three at the plate.
Post 469 bounced back to defeat Tomahawk, 14-1. McCain was the winning pitcher. Quaintance collected a pair of RBIs, Tyler Underwood doubled and had three RBIs, Warren batted a perfect four for four with two RBIs and Derek Vesely had three RBIs.
Marathon also beat Wittenberg, 10-1. Blake Underwood earned the pitching win. The team’s leading hitters were Daniel LaQua batting two for four; Quaintance batting three for four; DeBroux batting two for three with a double and Thurs, Warren and Vesely collecting two RBIs apiece.
Post 469 lost to Stratford, 8-3. Warren was the losing pitcher. Warren batted two for three and Blake Underwood had a pair of RBIs.
