|
|
August
10, 1999 9:10 AM
Editorial: This team doesn't just belong to R.I.
The Argus/Dispatch
Anyone who doubts that Rock Island
American Legion Post 200 currently
has the best Legion baseball program in Illinois ought to talk to members of
Danville Post 210. That's because Danville's players know first hand that
that is so.
Saturday at Northwestern University's
Wells Field, Rock Island Post 200
defeated Danville Post 210 by a 10-4 count to claim its second Illinois state
championship in the past three years. Saturday's win was Rock Island's
second over Danville in this years tournament and, ironically, it follows a
title-game victory over Danville in the 1997 state tournament in Mattoon.
Rock Island Post 200 - Which moves on to
the Central States Regional in
Midland, Mich., where it will meet the Michigan state champion on Thursday
at 5 p.m. has now won three state championships in the 1990s, an
unprecedented feat. Post 200 carries an impressive 40-2 record into the
regional tournament. "I knew before this season began that we'd have a very
good team that could compete with anyone in the state," Coach Mike Bell
said Saturday. "Did I think we would win the state championship and be a
couple hits against East Moline and Ottawa away from being 4-0? No way."
While it's unfair to compare one team to
another, there is no mistaking the
fact that the current Rock Island Legion team has almost the exact same
record heading into the regional tournament play that the 19997 team did.
It's no accident that that team - which was 42-1 after the state tournament
and went on to finish third in the American Legion World Series - had seven
current Legion players on it, Brett Hiner, J.J. Tubbs, Dustin Harksen,
Bryce Palar, Steve Strickler, Jason Morelock and James Britton.
Were proud of these young men and the others who
make up the current
Rock Island Legion team. Not only are they outstanding players, but they
are outstanding citizens who will serve our community well in Michigan.
Coach Bell may have said it best when he said they are a very good group
that deserves to be Illinois state champions. This isn't my team, it's these
kids' team, it's Rock Island's team and it's the Quad-Cities team," he added.
We join in congratulating Rock Island American
Legion Post 200 and wish
the team well as it bids for a berth in the Legion World Series in Connecticut.
But regardless of how the team does this week on the baseball diamond, it's
members have already proven to be winners in the biggest game of all -
the game of life. |
