By John Ring
Published July 14, 2022 in The Burg
The Galesburg Legion Post 285 baseball team didn’t finish strong at the recently concluded Tournament last weekend played in Moline but Coach Jeremy Kleine’s team got off to a fast start that translated into a second place finish.
That puts their record for the season at 14-8 and for a team making an historic comeback on the field with an uncertain roster early on, that’s quite a feat.
“I’d say so,” said Coach Kleine before Post 285 went into action in a home game on Wednesday night. “We weren’t totally certain on a roster early on but we’re very happy with where we’re at and how we have grown as a baseball team. We’re sure happy with the players that we have.”
Post 285 won their first three games in Moline to start off the Tournament. They knocked off Milan by a 6-3 score and then Owen Wolfe threw a gem against Rock Island in a 4-3 win. He pitched a complete game, using just 76 pitches and scattered three hits and allowed only two earned runs and didn’t walk a hitter. “That was classic Owen,” said Kleine. “He’s sneaky fast and trusts his defense.”
Farmington’s Riley Embry then shutout East Moline by a 3-0 score on Saturday before Post 285 lost the final two games of the Tournament to Moline and Rock Island on Sunday afternoon.
“We didn’t hit at all,” said Kleine, “and we didn’t play good defense either. I think we totaled just seven hits in those two games and that just doesn’t get the job done.”
“But,” the Post 285 coach added, “we just flushed it and moved on. It all starts with pitching. We had that hiccup on Sunday but you just have to forget about games like that and move on and the boys did just that.”
Post 285 has played Rocky a lot this season but that’s because of the number of teams playing Legion baseball has dwindled. “We know each other pretty good,” said Kleine. “We ran into a pitcher on Sunday that usually plays on a travel team but he was off and pitched against us and he was a good one.”
“We just need to build on what Owen did and what Embry did on Saturday,” continued the Galesburg coach. “Riley only threw 89 pitches in his shutout. Like I said, it all begins and ends with pitching and playing good defense and we can do things like that. You do that, you have a good baseball team.”
Post 285 continues it’s trek on the 2022 season and hopes to build on it’s winning success.