EC Post 53 to take on Marshfield in state American Legion baseball tournament Tuesday

Eau Claire Post 53’s Tuesday afternoon opponent is set as they begin the Wisconsin American Legion Baseball Association Class AAA State Tournament in Wisconsin Rapids.

Eau Claire Post 53 (16-7) will take on Marshfield (19-20) at 4 p.m. at the Rapids Area Sports Complex in the first of five days for the tournament that will ultimately crown a state champion this weekend. The champion and runner-up of the 96th Annual tournament both advance to the Great Lakes Regional in Carol Stream, Illinois from Aug. 7-11.

Tuesday’s action gets underway at 10 a.m. when De Pere (27-6) takes on Manitowoc (22-5), followed by Middleton (17-15-1) vs. Milwaukee Post 426 (13-4-1) at 1 p.m. The day’s games wrap up with Oshkosh (16-12) vs. Wisconsin Rapids (21-9) at 7:30 p.m.

Depending on whether they win or lose on Tuesday, the local post will then either play at 10 a.m. or 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

A 4-2 win over Superior on Wednesday afternoon allowed the Eau Claire team to advance to the annual state competition. Scoring three runs in the sixth to come from behind to win the regional championship, Tyler Webb carried EC Post 53 on the mound going the full seven innings allowing no earned runs, six hits and one walk while collecting five strike-outs. Leo Lauscher’s single in the sixth gave the local team the go-ahead runs.

That sent Eau Claire Post 53 to the eight-team Class AAA Wisconsin American Legion State tournament.

“This will be our third straight appearance at state and we have moved on to the national regional in each of the last two years,” Mark Faanes, one of the coaches for the Eau Claire Post 53, told the Leader-Telegram last week.

Faanes noted that this year’s incarnation of EC Post 53 has had to rely on several new players, who were not a part of last year’s squad.

“This is largely a completely new team from last year as we have just a couple returners who have been to state with us. It will be something different for them but they have all played in a lot of big-time baseball games growing up and I’m sure they will be comfortable with this tournament. If we play to our capabilities we should have a shot at moving on to nationals and they know that,” Faanes told the Leader-Telegram in last week’s interview following completion of regional play.

In Eau Claire Post 53’s storied history at the state tournament that dates back to 1930, they have an overall record of 94-82, with five state championships, 10 second-place finishes, 13 third-place finishes and nine fourth-place finishes.