Jackson freshmen vie for Legion 'A' state title

Beginning today and for the rest of the week, the music and excitement that is Branson, Mo., will take a back seat to baseball.

The American Legion 'A' Baseball Tournament. also known as the Freshman Legion tournament, gets underway today with eight teams vying for the state championship, which will be decided Sunday.

Jackson, the District 14 champion, will face Waynesville, the District 16 winner, today at 4 p.m. Coach Josh Adams' squad finished third in last year¹s tournament and fourth the year before, and Adams hopes this is the year his team breaks through with a state title.

"It's been our goal to get back to Branson," Adams said.

Jackson (25-6-1) dominated in last week¹s District 14 tournament, winning both its games by the mercy rule and no-hitting both opponents.

"We had a practice game against the eighth-grade team," Adams said about his squad's pre-tournament preparation. "We hit the ball well, and we got all our pitchers into the game."

"We¹re pumped and ready to go."

Devon Blankenship leads Jackson pitchers with eight wins. Triston Thele has five wins, and Jeremiah McGuire and Seth Bollinger four each.

Austin Bucher leads the team in hitting with a .455 average. Ryan Mize (.453), Ben Maudie (.435), Jake Edwards (.420) and Thele (.414) are close behind.

Edwards and Thele top the squad in hits with 29 each, while Edwards' 30 runs scored are tops on the team. Jackson is hitting .356 as a team and averages more than 6.6 runs per game.

A win today would put Jackson into the championship semifinals Thursday at 5:30 p.m. A loss would put Jackson into the losers bracket game Thursday at 12:30 p.m.

Adams knows there will be plenty for his team to do besides play baseball in Branson, and he wants his team to enjoy the experience. Still, he said his squad is focused on the task at hand.

"Our main focus is to go out there and win state," he said.