By rich Palzewic
Correspondent
SEYMOUR – Building on its past success, the Seymour Legion Post 106 baseball team was back at the Class AA State Tournament in late July.
Although Post 106 coach Jim Niespodzany said the state run didn’t quite end the way his club wanted it to, it was still a successful season.
“We finished 18-6, had a good season and made it to state, so we must be doing something right,” he said. “Last year, we finished 15-3.”
Seymour advanced to the state tournament July 29 through Aug. 2 in Fort Atkinson after winning the New London Regional.
At regionals, Post 106 topped Shawano 8-2 in the championship game after defeating Kaukauna 7-4 earlier in the day.
Against Kaukauna, Jacob Vannett hit a three-run, walkoff home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
At state, Seymour won its first game against Baraboo (5-3) but then lost to Beloit (10-2) and Fort Atkinson (3-2) in the double-elimination tournament.
“Since I’ve been here, this was our fourth state tournament,” said Niespodzany, who has been at the helm since 2001. “We also went in 2003, 2009 and 2016. We finished runner-up in 2003. In 2019, the 16U team won the state tournament, so it’s no secret we had the success we did this year.”
Niespodzany manages both the 19U and 16U teams.
“Officially, I’m the head coach, but I let the younger guys take the lead on the field,” he said. “We have some good young coaches. It’s all tied to the high school program, where I coach the junior varsity squad.”
Niespodzany said the Seymour Legion program has traditionally been strong.
“We have our down years like any other team, but we’ve had good interest,” he said.
Niespodzany is confident Post 106 will continue to be competitive in the future.
“Seymour Legion baseball has a solid foundation,” he said. “The 16U team made it to the regional final but lost to De Pere. We are in good shape, and I’m looking forward to it.”
The state of Legion baseball
Post 106 had good numbers on both squads this year, so it seems to be immune to the problems of Legion baseball across the state – dwindling numbers.
“We had 16 kids on the 19U team and 14 on the 16U squad,” Niespodzany said. “There are always things going on in the summer – work, vacations and competition with club baseball and other sports. Some nights, we only had 12 kids available, but that’s more than enough to play a game.”
Niespodzany didn’t have any of his players play club baseball this summer.
“I’ve had a few kids do that in the past,” he said. “Maybe because we’re a bit more rural than other teams, it’s not as much of a problem. I had one player who didn’t play Legion last year and did travel ball instead. This season, he came back and played with us and had fun.”
Niespodzany and his other coaches have talked about the future of Legion baseball.
“Travel teams have affected Legion ball, no doubt,” he said. “It’s mostly in the last 10 years – five years, for sure. Travel ball is expensive, and I think Legion ball has good competition, too. I won’t deny travel teams may see better players traveling around the country, though.”
Niespodzany said another issue was the folding of one of the oldest and most established leagues in the country – the Fox River Valley Legion League.
“There were 35 teams in that league,” he said. “I guess, lots of Legion teams would rather play in tournaments. You were required to play all your games in the league – no matter what. Sometimes, that was impossible. The high school season ends so late, and Legion has to get going. Regionals start the third week of July for the varsity team, so it didn’t allow much time.”
19U stats – batting average, hits, runs, RBI, walks (top five)
1.Lucas Leisgang: .389, 28, 12, 24, 14; 2. Will DeBruin: .358, 24, 25, 19, 11; 3. Jacob Minlschmidt: .283, 15, 8, 11, 10; 4. Jake Woldt: .275, 22, 17, 8, 5; 5. Mason Pautz: .216, 16, 14, 12, 12
Pitching – innings pitched, win/loss record, walks, strikeouts, earned-run average (top three)
- Pautz: 46.1, 6-1, 11, 40, 2.12; 2. Ty Schaumberg: 43.2, 5-3, 8, 29, 1.60; 3. Minlschmidt: 33.2,3-1, 18, 26, 3.54
16U stats – batting average, hits, runs, RBI, walks (top five) - Carson Dorn: .543, 25, 13, 15, 6; 2. Brandon Poch: .446, 25, 17, 18, 6; 3. Bennett Lecker: .383, 23, 18, 8, 10; 4. Brady Poch: .369, 24, 16, 16, 3; 5. Colten Nieland: .323, 21, 22, 8, 14
Pitching – innings pitched, win/loss record, walks, strikeouts, earned-run average (top three) - Lecker: 30.2, 3-2, 14, 27, 3.88; 2. Poch: 20, 4-1, 8, 24, 0.70; 3. Dorn: 18, 2-0, 4, 13, 5.06