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Post 25 Indians to face Colby in State opener
Fort Scott American Legion Post 25 will be the host for the Kansas American Legion Baseball AA State Tournament this week. Play begins Wednesday at Dave Regan Stadium with four first-round games.
The home team, which calls itself the Kansas Indians (17-17-2), will play in the final game of Wednesday's first round at 8:30 p.m. against the Colby Post 363 Sluggers.
Prior to that game, an opening ceremony will be held with the Fort Scott National Historic Site providing a color guard and local student Morgan Rohr performing the national anthem. The ceremony is expected to take place at 8:15.
The double-elimination tournament begins with Iola's Post 15 Indiand taking on the Goodland Post 117 Outlaws at 1 p.m. That will be followed by a 3:30 contest between Marysville Post 163 and the Larned Post 106 Indians (14-11). Doniphan County (29-2), which represents Troy Post 55, will face the Russell Post 99 Broncos (14-8) at 6 p.m.
Four more games will be played Thursday in two sessions. The elimination games will be played at 10 a.m. and approximately 12:30. Then winners' bracket semifinals will be played at 6 p.m. and approximately 8:30. The Indians would play the 12:30 game if they lose on Wednesday or the 8:30 game if they win.
Friday's play begins with elimination games at 10 a.m. and 12:30. The winners' bracket final will take place at 6 p.m. followed by the an elimination game at 8:30.
The elimination bracket final will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday morning with the championship game to follow at 12:30. If both remaining teams have one loss at the conclusion of Saturday's play, the "if necessary" game will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday morning.
Fort Scott's team is an automatic qualifier as the tournament host. The Indians were eliminated from the Zone 3/4 Tournament in three games two weekends ago. Iola went on to win that tournament.
In the past, seven Zone champions and the State tourney host qualified. But the number of American Legion teams has declined in the past few seasons with only 23 AA teams (and 15 AAA teams) playing this season. This year, the number of zones was reduced to four with the champion and runner up of the other three zones advancing.
The champion of the other three zones was determined in what would normally be the winners' bracket final of a double-elimination tournament. The winner advanced to State with the loser playing the other remaining one-win team for the right to advance as the runner-up (what normally would be the third-place game in a double-elimination bracket).
The American Legion classifies teams as AAA or AA based on how many students are in the enrollment areas that fall under each post's jurisdiction. American Legion also has an A classification that is for 16-and-under teams.
Hays, which did not field a team this season, won the 2015 State Tournament at Colby. Iola, the defending runner-up, is one of five returning teams along with Doniphan County, Larned, Marysville and Colby. Fort Scott was the 2014 State champion.
This will be the first time Fort Scott has hosted a State Tournament.
SCHEDULE
AMERICAN LEGION AA STATE TOURNAMENT
at Dave Regan Stadium
Wednesday, July 27
Game 1: Iola Post 15 vs. Goodland Post 117, 1 p.m.
Game 2: Marysville Post 163 vs. Larned Post 106, 3:30
Game 3: Troy Post 55-Doniphan County vs. Russell Post 99, 6 p.m.
Game 4: Fort Scott Post 25 vs. Colby Post 363, 8:30
Thursday, July 28
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 10 a.m. (Loser eliminated)
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 12:30 (Loser eliminated)
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 8:30
Friday, July 29
Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 10 a.m. (Loser eliminated)
Game 10: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8, 12:30 (Loser eliminated)
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 6 p.m. (Winners' bracket final)
Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 8:30 (Loser fourth)
Saturday, July 30
Game 13: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 11, 10 a.m. (Loser third)
Game 14: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13, 12:30 (First championship game)
Sunday, July 31
Game 15: Necessary only if Loser Game 11 wins Game 14, 10 a.m.
Qualifiers
Fort Scott Post 25
Nickname: Indians.
Record: 17-17-2.
Road to State: Automatic qualifier as the host team. Played in Zone 3-4 Tournament at Iola. Lost to Iola, 5-1, in the first round of a three-team tournament.
Games at Zone
Iola 5, Fort Scott 1 (Fort Scott eliminated)
Colby Post 363
Nickname: Sluggers.
Record: 14-15.
Road to State: Won Zone 7-8 Tournament, which the Sluggers hosted, defeating Norton in the final, 13-0.
Games at Zone
Colby 13, Ulysses 3
Colby 13, Norton 0 (1st)
Doniphan County
Post: 55 (Troy).
Nickname: none.
Record: 29-2.
Road to State: Won Zone 1-2 Tournament, played at Sabetha, beating Marysville in the final, 15-3.
Games at Zone
Donpihan County 11, Silver Lake 1
Doniphan County 15, Marysvile 3 (1st)
Goodland Post 117
Nickname: Outlaws.
Record: n/a.
Road to State: Finished second in Zone 7-8, defeating Norton, 13-12, in the qualifying game, which made Goodland officially the Zone 8 champion. Norton had beaten Goodland in the first round but lost the to Colby in the championship game prior.
Games at Zone
Norton 13, Goodland 7
Goodland 22, Ulysses 3 (Ulysses eliminated)
Goodland 8, Osborne 7 (Osborne eliminated)
Goodland 13, Norton 12 (2nd)
Iola Post 15
Nickname: Indians.
Record: 18-13.
Road to State: Won the Zone 3-4 Tournament by defeating Garnett in what became a best-of-three series after the Indians defeated Fort Scott in the first round. Garnett won the first game but Iola took the next two.
Games at Zone
Iola 5, Fort Scott 1 (Fort Scott eliminated)
Garnett 5, Iola 3
Iola 4, Garnett 0
Iola 3, Garnett 1 (1st)
Larned Post 106
Nickname: Indians.
Record: 14-11.
Road to State: Won the Zone 5-6 Tournament, which the Indians hosted, defeating Russell in the final 11-0.
Games at Zone
Larned 8, Beloit 1
Larned 8, Concordia 0
Larned 11, Russell 0 (1st)
Marysville Post 163
Nickname: none.
Record: 29-6.
Road to State: Finished second in Zone 1-2, defeating Seneca in the qualifying game, which made Marysville officially the Zone 2 champion. Marysville had lost to Doniphan County in the championship game prior.
Games at Zone
Marysville 14, Linn 1
Marysville 9, Seneca 6
Doniphan County 15, Marysville 3 (1st)
Marysville 4, Seneca 3 (2nd)
Russell Post 99
Nickname: Broncos.
Record: 14-8.
Road to State: Finished second in Zone 5-6, defeating Beloit in the qualifying game, which made the Broncos officially the Zone 6 champion. Russell had lost to Larned in the championship game prior.
Games at Zone
Russell 16, Sylvan Grove 6
Russell 5, Ellis 3
Larned 11, Russell 0 (1st)
Russell 5, Beloit 4 (2nd)
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