Despite an impressive 11-4 record and a possible No. 1 seed heading into today's District 7-Division II Southeast American Legion baseball tournament, MACCRAY asked to be dropped from post-season action.
"Unfortunately, we just don't have enough players for the tournament," said MACCRAY coach Jason Meyer. "We could have played (today), but we wouldn't have had enough players for the next round on the weekend. So I decided to pull out so the brackets didn't get all screwed up and someone would get a (second-round) forfeit."
Had MACCRAY played today, Meyer said he would have had 16 players. But eight of the players will be going on a church mission trip to Colorado this weekend and one of the team's top players, Ben Ruter, broke his leg recently sliding into third base while playing for the Raymond Rockets amateur team against Dumont. Another player had a previous engagement.
The Southeast bracket is now down to five teams with Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop the No. 1 seed.
"We're a very young team and we have all but one player (Ruter) coming back next year," said Meyer, trying to find a positive out of the quick end to the season. "I'm hoping we won't have any conflicts before tournament time."
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In the Northeast Division, Chokio is the top seed, while Sacred Heart is No. 1 in the Southwest and Kerkhoven in the Northeast.
The winners of each division will play in a Final Four beginning on July 29 and will be hosted by Montevideo.
