After having to miss a weekend of Post 275 American Legion baseball I was more than happy to be able to be at the Zone Tournament the past couple days at River Valley High School in Three Oaks, MI. Since we are hosting next week's State Tournament, we automatically qualify to compete in it, but as a team we want to earn our way there. The top two teams in this Zone Tournament qualify.
We assured ourselves a spot by winning our first two games on Friday, thus forcing the other teams to battle for the right to play us and also qualify for the state tournament. Due to the costs of lodging and feeding the team, the tournament committee decided on Friday night that once we were down to two teams, there would be no need to play the 'if necessary' game of the double elimination on Sunday.
I made sure to let the powers-that-be know that I disagreed with that decision. They called it a 'meaningless' game. We all have our own interpretation of the word meaningless. To them, since the two teams had already been determined, there was no point in playing an extra championship game and spending extra money. But to me, from a coaching perspective, there are numerous reasons to play that final championship game.
First of all, I think we are doing both teams a disservice by not playing, as an extra game of competition can only help both of the Zone's representatives prepare some more for the state tournament. Players and teams improve by playing. In addition, in looking at our team specifically, we have a pitcher who will be a 2014 high school graduate who hasn't pitched in two weeks. He is also a potential college pitcher, and he is now denied an opportunity to pitch, potentially in front of a few college coaches. And it isn't just the opportunity to see this one kid, but two entire teams of potential college players are denied the opportunity.
We will be playing next week, as will the Berrien Springs team, but both squads were denied an opportunity to not only prepare more for the state tournament, but also to improve in a big game situation. The same scenario occurred last year in our Zone Tournament.
The American Legion Baseball Administrators have clung to some old-school values, which is a good thing. But they have also created situations that has caused a drop in the number of teams and quality players who choose to play Legion Baseball in various regions and states across the country. When I first became a college coach in the late 1980s, most of the top players in our state were playing Legion baseball. Today, there are only a few geographic areas of the state that attract the best local players to Legion Baseball.
Personally, I think some input from 'baseball' people would do some good for the players and administrators of American Legion Baseball.
We assured ourselves a spot by winning our first two games on Friday, thus forcing the other teams to battle for the right to play us and also qualify for the state tournament. Due to the costs of lodging and feeding the team, the tournament committee decided on Friday night that once we were down to two teams, there would be no need to play the 'if necessary' game of the double elimination on Sunday.
I made sure to let the powers-that-be know that I disagreed with that decision. They called it a 'meaningless' game. We all have our own interpretation of the word meaningless. To them, since the two teams had already been determined, there was no point in playing an extra championship game and spending extra money. But to me, from a coaching perspective, there are numerous reasons to play that final championship game.
First of all, I think we are doing both teams a disservice by not playing, as an extra game of competition can only help both of the Zone's representatives prepare some more for the state tournament. Players and teams improve by playing. In addition, in looking at our team specifically, we have a pitcher who will be a 2014 high school graduate who hasn't pitched in two weeks. He is also a potential college pitcher, and he is now denied an opportunity to pitch, potentially in front of a few college coaches. And it isn't just the opportunity to see this one kid, but two entire teams of potential college players are denied the opportunity.
We will be playing next week, as will the Berrien Springs team, but both squads were denied an opportunity to not only prepare more for the state tournament, but also to improve in a big game situation. The same scenario occurred last year in our Zone Tournament.
The American Legion Baseball Administrators have clung to some old-school values, which is a good thing. But they have also created situations that has caused a drop in the number of teams and quality players who choose to play Legion Baseball in various regions and states across the country. When I first became a college coach in the late 1980s, most of the top players in our state were playing Legion baseball. Today, there are only a few geographic areas of the state that attract the best local players to Legion Baseball.
Personally, I think some input from 'baseball' people would do some good for the players and administrators of American Legion Baseball.
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