WILLMAR -- Willmar coach Dave Oehrlein believes his team will be just fine playing with the high rollers at the 83rd Annual American Legion State Tournament starting Thursday in Burnsville.
"We get little respect, but last year we won three games and lost twice by one run each time," said the third-year Legion coach.
Unranked Post 167 will play Eastview, a top-20 team, at 10 a.m. in the first round of the 16-team, double-elimination event, which uses two fields at AliMagnet Park plus fields in Prior Lake and Bloomington to start.
Two years ago, Willmar led top-ranked Coon Rapids in the last inning but lost by one run. Coon Rapids went on to finish second and advance to a regional.
Willmar is 17-6 with a lot of those wins coming against District 7 teams from smaller towns. But Willmar has beaten Alexandria three of four times, Centennial of Circle Pines and Cold Spring, which is in the bracket opposite Willmar with Maple Grove.
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"We play good defense and we have good pitching," said Oehrlein, a former St. Louis Cardinal farmhand out of Rocori High School. "But we're not aggressive enough at the plate. We take too many third strikes. We've got to go up there and take our cuts and make the other team make the plays."
Jordan Smith, a right-hander who bats from the left side, leads the team in most offensive and pitching categories. The three-sport athlete, who will be a senior, is batting just over .500 with 46 hits in 91 at- bats. His 40 runs, 35 RBI, 14 doubles, seven homers and nine stolen bases all lead the team.
As a team, Willmar has only nine homers. Matt Seehusen and Alec Saunders have hit one apiece.
Seehusen, who is playing in his third state tournament, Saunders and Birkland are steady to red-hot. Seehusen had 12 hits in the district tournament and Saunders had five hits in a row in the championship games. Seehusen is hitting .469 with 30 hits, seven doubles and 18 RBI. Saunders has a .384 average with seven doubles and 24 RBI. Birkland's 24 runs are second on team. His 21 singles and four doubles are good for a .338 average.
Smith (7-1, 1.06 ERA), David Anderson (2-2, 2.26), George Jacobson (4-1, 2.43) and Alex Malmgren (4-1, 3.10) have thrown all but seven innings. Smith has struck out 69 in 59 innings.
Smith will start the first game and Anderson the second game on Thursday.
Eastview comes out District 3, a 16-team grouping that takes in the eastern metro from Forest Lake south to New Prague and reaches west to include Chaska and Chanhassen.
The Thunder never cracked the Coaches Top Ten but upset suburban rival Apple Valley 11-7 in the district championship. Eastview knocked off Stillwater, St. Paul Park and Burnsville earlier in the district tournament. Apple Valley came back to beat Burnsville and Oakdale and get in has the district runner-up.
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Eastview is a new program. The state board granted the Eastview Athletic Association a charter in 2007. Before that Eastview High School players had to compete for a spot on the Apple Valley Post 1776 team.
Willmar beat Alexandria 13-2 and 9-8 for its third straight district championship.
"We never even cracked the top 40 this summer," said Oehrlein, "but all three years we've played better in July than in June."
Also slow starting was Alex Malmgren, who caught all five games at state last year. He didn't have a hit in June but he's batted well over .300 since to raise his average to .275.
"I'm really excited to be playing in this tournament again," said the Willmar graduate who will attend Ridgewater this fall.
