Stuck in a slump: Post 14 off to sluggish start

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Royal McGregor / The Dickinson Press Jamestown Post 14 pitcher Danny Fischer throws to the plate Friday in Dickinson. Post 14 is out to a 1-5 start, but hopes to get back on track at the Cornhusker Classic starting Thursday in Omaha, Neb. Jamestown meets Morton, Ill., at 8:30 a.m.

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With only five runs in six games, the Jamestown Post 14 Legion baseball team hasn’t started the way coach Shane Schoeneberg had hoped.

But even with the losses, Schoeneberg said his team is still meeting its No. 1 objective — improving every day.

“We’re just starting a little slow,” he said. “We’re still working to get better every day. As long as we play our best baseball (by season’s end) and we continue to get better each day, I’m not as concerned about wins and losses.”

Post 14 can only hope to shake its woes when it goes to the Cornhusker Classic in Omaha, Neb., on Thursday. Jamestown opens up with Morton, Ill., at 8:30 a.m. The tournament concludes with Sunday’s 9 a.m. championship.

“This is our first year going to it,” Schoeneberg said. “I do know there are some good teams we’ll be facing. I think the biggest thing is for us to be competitive against teams we have no idea about. You know about teams like Fargo.

“I just like the fact that we get to go play teams we’re not accustomed to playing. There’s no scouting report — just go out there and play.”

It may be just what Post 14 needs after a rough six-game stretch in which it was blanked three times. Jamestown took the opener of a doubleheader in Dickinson 2-0 for its only win. Kasey Gengler and Danny Fischer combined on a five-hitter.

But Post 14 also had just five hits in the game and has managed 26 on the season, an average of a little more than four hits per game. Gengler leads the team with a .357 average, but standouts Danny Fischer (.200) and Brady Anderson (.250) have struggled.

“I think with some of the guys, it’s them needing to be aggressive with their pitch,” Schoeneberg said. “Not necessarily just being aggressive. Sometimes we’re a little too aggressive. We need to make the pitcher work a little bit.”

Schoenberg said the adjustment of using new bats is also taking a little longer than expected. Though Legion uses an aluminum bat over the wood used in high school baseball, the new bats aren’t anything like what was used last summer.

“These bats are a lot like wood,” Schoeneberg said. “They’re metal, but they still don’t travel near as much as the bats used last summer and in years past. I definitely think there’s a metal-bat swing and a wood-bat swing. I think we need to stay with the approach of a wood-bat swing. That’s why I’m stressing being able to execute a bunt, hit and run or steal a bag. We need to be able to manufacture runs and not just try to get six hits every inning.”

The team’s overall pitching hasn’t helped matters. Though Gengler and Fischer looked good against Dickinson, Jamestown has still allowed 35 earned runs on 41 hits in 35 innings — an ERA of 7.00.

But a good weekend in Omaha could put Post 14 back on track, and there will be plenty of good baseball for Jamestown to mimic. The College World Series is taking place in Omaha, and Schoeneberg said the team will be able to catch a game.

“We’re actually gonna go on Friday night to Arizona-Florida State,” Schoeneberg said. “It’ll be pretty nice.”

Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, baseball, legion