Junior American Legion baseball: Montevideo has momentum heading into state

Aug. 1—MONTEVIDEO

— Montevideo Post 380 has been on quite a run. But as the defending state champions, it has no plans of stopping anytime soon.

Montevideo, which is on a 32-game winning streak, is back at the Division II Junior American Legion State Baseball Tournament for a third consecutive year. Post 380 is set to play Parkers Prairie at 1:30 p.m. Friday in

Granite Falls

.

"This is a group of kids that have really dedicated a lot of time and have worked hard to get to this position," Montevideo head coach Tim Epema said. "These are the types of kids you dream about coaching because they're all in. They work hard, they enjoy spending time with each other and they have put in the time in the off-season."

Montevideo had an 18-0 record in 2022 and although it is without a handful of key juniors in its pursuit of back-to-back state titles, Post 380's next wave of players have stepped up to the task. The team has a 14-0 record this summer.

Epema made the decision several years ago that he would not allow juniors to play for Post 380, even if they have eligibility.

"We need a place for our ninth and 10th graders to play," Epema said. "It would be nice to run it back with basically the same team coming back from last year, but I stuck to it.

"We (won) it last year with no juniors, so that's our goal, to (win) it again. It's about developing our program. It is next kids up now. Last year's team set the precedent. Now let's see if this year's team can follow in their footsteps."

It is so far so good for Post 380, which is out-scoring its opponents 134-26. However, down the stretch, Montevideo has found ways to win close games.

Post 380 won three of its four games by one run in the South Central Sub-State Playoffs. It beat

Madison

twice, which included a 3-2 nine-inning victory on July 21 and a 3-2 eight-inning win on July 29 in the championship. Montevideo also beat

Sacred Heart

/MACCRAY 8-1 on July 18 and defeated Minneota 5-4 on July 25.

"This group has found ways to win close games," Epema said. "They don't panic."

Epema mentioned a big part of the team's success is its pitching. Montevideo has 158 strikeouts and has walked 23 batters in 92 innings this summer.

Post 380 has a trio of pitchers leading the charge in Gannon Reidinger, Griffin Epema and Sam Knoop. Griffin Epema will start on the mound for Montevideo against Parkers Prairie.

"They are kind of like a 1A, 1B and 1C," Tim Epema said. "You give them the ball and they're going to give you six-to-seven innings almost every time."

Montevideo has a team batting average of .368. Reidinger, who bats in the No. 3 spot, leads Post 380 with a .523 batting average and Griffin Epema, in the No. 2 spot, has a .500 batting average and .727 on-base percentage.

Landon Olson, who bats in the No. 5 spot and has a .455 batting average, is questionable after having an emergency appendectomy on July 29. He will need to be cleared with a doctor's note prior to Friday's game.

"We're hopeful that he can play," Tim Epema said.

Regardless if Olson can play or not, Montevideo will need to be at its best to secure a second straight state title.

"It's going to come down to clutch hitting with runners in scoring position and finding a way to get those runs home," Tim Epema said. "And then just executing on defense and taking care of the baseball."

1. Ben Gunlogson, 2B

2. Griffin Epema, P

3. Gannon Reidinger, 1B

4. Brody Dack, 3B/C

5. Landon Olson, C or Sam Knoop, SS

6. Sam Knoop, SS or Brendan Koosmann, RF/3B

7. Brendan Koosmann, RF/3B or Jackson Koenen, LF

8. Carter Malstrom, DH or Mason Blommel, RF

9. Jaden Hendrickson, CF