EDWARDSVILLE – The Metro East Bears are going to be running into a familiar opponent Wednesday morning.
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The Bears will be facing Rockport, Ind., at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the opening game of the American Legion Great Lakes Regional tournament at Mercy Field in Napoleon, Ohio; Rockport is the team that defeated the Bears in last year's regional final at SIU-Edwardsville's Roy Lee Field.
The Bears enter the regional as one of two Illinois representatives, having defeated Danville Saturday morning in the state championship game in Rantoul to advance to Napoleon; Danville is the other Illinois representative in the tournament, which sees the winner advance to next week's American Legion World Series in Shelby, N.C.
“We're excited about the chance to advance (to Shelby),” said Bears manager Ken Schaake. “We're one of 64 teams (in eight regionals this week) who have the chance to get there. The main thing is to make sure we keep playing our game and play baseball the way we know how.
“We just need to keep playing our game the same way we have all season.”
The shift in time zones – Ohio is in the Eastern time zone – shouldn't play a factor for the Bears, Schaake thinks. “We have to be ready to play when the time comes,” Schaake said. “It doesn't matter when we play; we have to be ready to go when the time comes.”
Should the Bears win the opener, they will play at 3:30 p.m. Thursday against the winner of an opening-round game Wednesday between Danville and Beverly/Lowell, Ohio; a loss would put them into a 9 a.m. Thursday game against the loser of the Danville-Beverly game. The double-elimination tournament runs through Sunday afternoon.
Game play and stats will be posted in real time by logging on to americanlegion.sportingin.com/region5 on-line; box scores and updated tournament information will also be available at that site.
2017 AMERICAN LEGION
GREAT LAKES REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
MERCY FIELD – NAPOLEON, OHIO
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2
GAME 1: Metro East vs. Rockport, Ind., 9 a.m.
GAME 2: Oshkosh, Wis., vs. Midland, Mich., 30 minutes after conclusion of first game
GAME 3: Danville vs. Beverly/Lowell, Ohio, 3:30 p.m.
GAME 4: Eau Claire, Wis., vs. Napoleon, Ohio, 30 minutes after conclusion of first game
THURSDAY, AUGUST 3
GAME 5: Game 1 loser vs. Game 3 loser, 9 a.m. (Loser eliminated)
GAME 6: Game 2 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 30 minutes after conclusion of first game (Loser eliminated)
GAME 7: Game 1 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 3:30 p.m.
GAME 8: Game 2 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 30 minutes after conclusion of first game
FRIDAY, AUGUST 4
GAME 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 loser, 11 a.m. (Loser eliminated)
GAME 10: Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 3 p.m. (Loser eliminated)
GAME 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 30 minutes after conclusion of 4 p.m. game
SATURDAY, AUGUST 5
GAME 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 11 loser, Noon (Loser eliminated)
GAME 13: Game 10 winner vs. Game 11 winner, 6 p.m.
NOTE: Teams playing in Games 12 and 13 will not be drawn to play each other if they have already played each other earlier in the tournament unless absolutely necessary; should three teams remain after Game 13, the Game 11 winner gets a bye into Game 14.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 6
GAME 14: Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner, Noon (Final)
GAME 15, IF NECESSARY: If Game 11 winner loses in Game 13, or if Game 12 winner wins Game 14, 3 p.m. (Second Final)
TOURNAMENT WINNER ADVANCES TO
AMERICAN LEGION WORLD SERIES
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