View from the cheap seats
A weekly perspective on sports
Casey Krautkramer Reporter The Record-Review
Just because American Legion baseball is canceled in Wisconsin this summer because of COVID-19 doesn’t necessarily mean there won’t be high school baseball players on the area diamonds.
Steve Warren, American Legion Post 469 head baseball coach, provided me with some hope on Tuesday morning of witnessing local baseball being played this summer.
He’s been in contact with Connor Handrick, the new Edgar American Legion Post 393 head baseball coach, about Marathon playing against Edgar and other area baseball teams this summer. The baseball teams would practice and play against opponents without being affi liated with public school districts or their local American Legions.
Warren said Marathon’s baseball team might follow its original American Legion schedule this summer against opponents, with no affiliation to the American Legion, if the coronavirus quarantine is lifted.
Each summer I normally write a preview story on the Edgar and Marathon American Legion baseball teams, but since I’m not entirely certain there will be baseball yet this summer, I’ve decided to list the Marathon American Legion Post 469 career all-stars and the all-time hitting and pitching leaders during the program’s existence from 1999 until today.
I don’t have any historical data on the Edgar American Legion baseball team, which was still considered a Junior American Legion team last summer compared to Marathon being a Senior American Legion team for the past 20 years.
The following Marathon Post 469 baseball players were selected to play in the summer all-star game: Mike Hanke in 2003, Andy Starzinski in 2006, David Schreier in 2008, Tyler Hamann in 2009, Cody Hanke in 2011, Collin Seubert in 2013, Alex Blume in 2015, Ryan Gassner in 2016 and Mitchell Kurtz in 2019.
Schreier holds the best hitting average of .385, with a minimum of 200 at bats, in Marathon American Legion history. He is followed by the late Andy Kaldunski with a .384 hitting average.
Gassner holds Post 469 all-time records with 526 at bats, 199 hits and 212 runs scored. Landen Williamson has the most RBIs, 139, followed by Kaldunski with 136.
Hamann has Post 469 all-time pitching records for the most innings pitched with 257-1/2 and most wins with a 30-12 record. Hanke holds the best pitching record at 25-4 followed by Nick Blume at 20-5. Hanke also has the lowest ever pitching ERA of 1.74. Gassner has the most strikeouts, 343, in Post 469 history.
