Sleepy Eye carries undefeated record into Jr. Legion state tourney
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PARKERS PRAIRIE -- Sleepy Eye enters the DII Junior Legion State Tournament with high expectations.
This season, Sleepy Eye Junior Legion has posted a perfect 18-0 record headed into the tournament that begins Thursday in Parkers Prairie. Sleepy Eye faces the host team Parkers Prairie at 5 p.m. in the opening round.
"A lot of the kids put in a lot of work outside of the game," Sleepy Eye head coach Brandon Streich said. "We have practice, we have games, but all the kids love the game and baseball and they practice on their own. They're very cohesive, on and off the field, and we just do the little things right. We play the game the right way, we hustle, we hit the ball hard, we play defense and we throw strikes. Most of the time you're going to come out on top when you do those things."
Streich said the strength of the team has been its pitching, both in depth and in high-end talent.
"Our pitching has been top-notch all season long," Streich said. "I can trust any one of our guys, one through seven and maybe even eight, that if he's on the mound, we're going to get a good chance to win.
"Offensively, we put the ball in play. We don't strike out a ton, but when we get on base, we put pressure on the defense, and I think our guys really thrive on that."
Derek Wales and Karter Haala have been the main workhorses for the team on the mound, with Wales pitching 24 innings and Haala putting in 23. Wales has recorded three wins in four starts, not allowing an earned run while striking out 43 batters. Haala, meanwhile, has four wins with 29 strikeouts and just one earned run (0.304 ERA). Also contributing on the mound for Sleepy Eye are Landry Folkens (18 1/3 IP, 17 SO, 1.198 ERA) and Adam Braulick (17 2/3 IP, 2.774 ERA), with Merrick Mathiowetz and Eric Lozano recording a handfull of starts as well.
The team has had a strong offensive season to compliment the defense. Mathiowetz is batting .529 on the season wit ha 1.436 OPS. Wales is batting .435, and Jaxon Saenz has put up a .407 season so far. Haala and Lozano are also batting over .300. As a team, Sleepy Eye only strikes out 11.5% of the time, and get on base 46.1% of the time.
The team brings experience to this year's tournament after making it last year, as well as several of the players participating in the state tournament with the senior legion team this past weekend.
"A lot of these guys have multiple weekends at the state tournament under their belt," Streich said. "A lot of those failures and results -- last year we lost in the first round and lost to Le Sueur in the consolation championship, and last weekend losing in the consolation championship -- I think that there's a little more urgency that has to be had. A lot of that pain from coming up short is a motivator for them this weekend."
Despite Sleepy Eye coming in with an undefeated record, Parkers Prairie presents a tough first-round matchup for Post 7. Streich plans on starting Folkens for the first-round matchup.
"They play some small ball, they play the game the right way, they play hard," Streich said. "They are a very respectable program. Their high school went 20-2 this year, their senior legion team placed third at state. They're probably one of the better teams that are going to be up there for sure."
Ultimately, Sleepy Eye is looking for quick starts to its games to find success.
"I would love to see us play with some urgency," Streich said. "I want to get on top first. Put pressure on the other team. Because I feel like we can take a deep breath a little bit, play our game and not be so up-tight. I'd really like to see some urgency early in every game."