The Black Hills Community Bank Firecracker tournament has come to an end and it was full of quality baseball.
Merced, Calif. won the tournament by topping defending champion Rocky Mountain, Colo. in a great championship game. Both teams were as fundamentally solid as they come on defense, they attacked the ball as hitters, and had enough depth in their pitching staffs to push them through seven games.
For Post 22 it was a mixed bag of both inconsistency and success. The Hardhats started the tournament 1-4, but battled back winning their final three games to finish 4-4. At 21-15 it is still very much in the air what kind of team this will be. Post 22’s biggest strength is no doubt their pitching staff, but they will be looking to solidify the defense behind them.
Amazingly, the state tournament is just three weeks away. It seems like the summer has just flown by.
-Jake-

Had a chance to see Spearfish Post 164 for the first time tonight as they swept a doubleheader from a Chadron team that came in at 10-7. Spearfish is a very young team this year and coach Matt Kemp only has 19 kids out for his program from which to field two teams. 

Tough assignment finding enough arms to remain competitive. Interesting team nonetheless. Have one of the best shortstops in Matt’s younger brother Justin who simply gobbbles up everything his in his direction, and does it with ease. Allen Hemeyer can play with anybody and Rick White is a solid player as well. Other than that, lots of young players. Jay Darling had a win tonight and did a good job throwing strikes and making people hit in on ground. Sold infield defense did the rest. 

Have beat Post 22 once and were very competitive on an early season eastern SD swing. How club matures will tell the tale.

Probably will need a lot of 6-3 putouts in the scorebook to be successful.

Joe K

After the first day of the Firecracker tournament a few teams are already starting to separate themselves. Rocky Mountain Colo. the defending Firecracker champions went 2-0 on the day beating Coon Rapids, Minn. and Merced, Calif. The Lobos are the real deal and have to be considered the favorites to win the tournament. Missoula, Mont. also went 2-0 on the first day with big wins over Las Vegas and West Warwick, R.I.. The two undefeated teams meet Wednesday at 3 p.m..
Post 22 ended the first day at 1-1 after dropping their opener to Cheyenne, Wyo. and then bouncing back with a win over West Warwick, R.I.. Post 22 ace Kolton Emery pitched the night-cap and was outstanding. Emery threw only 55 pitches in the win, 41 for strikes, and retired 9 of the last 10 hitters he faced. That is the best I’ve seen Emery pitch all season and it could just propel Post 22 in the right direction the rest of the tournament.
-Jake-

Today marks the opening day of the Black Hills Community Bank Firecracker tournament, a day many local baseball fans wait for all year. In a prelude to the tournament Post 22 battled Las Vegas last night and it was the biggest crowd of the year at Fitzgerald Stadium. If this is a sign of things to come it should be a great tournament.
There are some great teams in this year’s field and I’m looking forward to seeing them play. I always enjoy watching Post 22 play, but as the years have gone by I have attended more and more of the other games as well.
A couple teams to watch are Merced, Calif., and Ft. Collins, Colo.. Merced is one of the best teams in all of California with several players named to the Collegiate Baseball Magazine players to watch list. Ft. Collins is the defending champion and has won the Colorado state championship three years in a row.
Missoula, Mont., Las Vegas, and Cheyenne are all teams to watch as well. It should be a very competitive tournament. Does anyone out there have a favorite?
-Jake-

Rapid City Post 320 extended their winning streak to 11 games on Sunday after a sluggish start to the season. The Stars have started to play good baseball in the last couple weeks. Their team era is under three runs a game, they are hitting .349 as a team, and they are coming around on the defensive side as well. The test for the Stars will come in the next two weeks as they travel to play the Miles City wood bat tournament and then to Dickinson. Post 320 head coach Jim Brandt said he will know a lot more about his team in the coming weeks.
-Jake-

Post 320’s Brandon Rainford is back in a big way. On Saturday Rainford got his second start of the season after coming back from Tommy John surgery. He had the surgery last July and it kept him out all of last season.
As is often the case with Tommy John, Rainford has actually increased his velocity. On Saturday he was throwing consistently between 86-88 mph and topped out at 89 mph. He also has a quality breaking pitch.
It was the first time I’ve seen Rainford pitch and I must say I was impressed. I would even go as far as to say he has the best stuff in the area.
An article about Rainford and his coming back from Tommy John surgery will appear in Monday’s edition of the Rapid City Journal, check it out.
-Jake-

I had a chance to take my kids to check out a Post 22 game this past week. Unfortunately, it was the Pierre game but the end result aside, we had a good time.
It was the first time I’d been in Fitzgerald Stadium, and, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. I don’t know what I was expecting, but that is a great venue for American Legion baseball.
Andrew

Post 22 looked like a different team Thursday night versus Omaha Westside than they did only two nights ago against Pierre. Not to take anything away from Pierre, but Omaha is the defending high school state champions in Nebraska and they play outstanding high school baseball in Nebraska.
Against Pierre Post 22 looked young and unsure of themselves, and then they play Omaha and look confident and like a veteran squad. The Hardhats played their first errorless game in over a week, and hit the ball hard consistently up and down the lineup. Several young players really impressed me Thursday night. Caleb Stanley hit the ball hard almost every at bat, and can play a variety of positions well. Kyle Gorsuch made his varsity debut and played excellent at shortstop, he also added in two hits. Brock Thomas had a good game behind the plate and knocked in a couple runs. Jordan Carlson continues to hit the ball well, hitting over .400. These names aren’t the ‘big’ names for Post 22, but they are contributing in a big way. If Post 22 can continue to have young players step up, and the returning guys play to their potential this could be a good team.
-Jake-

Things won’t get any easier for Post 22 this coming week. The Hardhats probably enter the toughest part of their schedule first battling the Nebraska high school state champions Omaha Westside tonight and then next week starts the Firecracker tournament.
Post 22 has been on a little bit of a rollercoaster as of late. They went 3-3 in Omaha at the College World Series tournament against some tough competition. They seemed to be heading in the right direction going 4-2 at the Rich Hinseth tournament in which they took away many positives. But then they lost to Pierre giving up 17 hits at home. Coach Ploof is definitely looking for some consistency from his young ball club, and this next week will provide some real insight into what kind of Post 22 team this will be.
-Jake-

Legion teams in western South Dakota are getting better. Pierre’s victory last night over Post 22 is just another example of how evenly matched this region will be, come post-season time. Since Post 22 is hosting the state tournament and will be receiving an automatic bid they won’t play in the regional. But Pierre, Sturgis, Spearfish, and Post 320 will battle it out for two spots and they have all beaten each other. Pierre and Spearfish have beaten Post 22. Post 320 has beaten Spearfish, but was swept by Sturgis, so it is wide open in western South Dakota.
The thing I was most impressed with in Pierre’s win over Post 22 was they came right at them. They weren’t intimated by all the state championships or playing in front a big crowd on the road. Post 8 just came out, played aggressive, and had fun.
-Jake-