25th District tournament to begin
<p class="p1">What could be a very competitive, double-elimination American Junior Legion 25th District Tournament kicks off Thursday at various sites around the region.
<p class="p1">West Bracket host Steeleville Post 480 drew the No. 1 seed on its side of the tournament and will face No. 8 seed Pinckneyville-Du Quoin 15U on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
<p class="p1">"I'm just happy we were able to have a good season," said Steeleville coach Jacob Wente. "We've had some guys who have played well and at the end of the day, it doesn't matter where you're seeded.
<p class="p1">"It comes down to making fundamental plays and getting the hits that you need."
<p class="p1">Pinckneyville-Du Quoin 17U (2), Carbondale (3), Chester (4) and Orient-based Sons of the American Legion (5) make up the top five seeds of the West Bracket, with Campbell Hill (6) and Sparta (7) rounding out the field.
<p class="p1">"I think we've got a pretty stacked field," said Butch Ogle, 25th District chairman and state chairman for American Junior Legion. "I have no doubt on the West side that any of the teams can win.
<p class="p1">"On the (East side), I think five of the seven teams can win."
<p class="p1">Chester (8-7) will battle the Sons of the American Legion at the Cohen Complex on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., with the winner facing the winner of Steeleville/PVL-DQ at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Steeleville in the West Bracket quarterfinals.
<p class="p1">Post 487 already owns a pair of one-run wins (3-2 and 7-6) over Steeleville earlier this season.
<p class="p1">"I think our two leaders, our two older guys, (Joey) Stahlheber and (Daltyn) Korando have really stepped up," Chester coach Trevor Kelkhoff said. "Joey's led the team in offense all year and his aggressive baserunning has been kind of inspirational/motivational for the whole team."
<p class="p1">Chester handed Steeleville its only two District losses in a 10-2 campaign.
<p class="p1">"I think we've had good starting pitching," Wente said. "We've had Hunter Fedderke, R.J. Smith and Eli Wittenborn and those guys have eaten a lot of innings.
<p class="p1">"They've been around a couple of summers now and know what to do and they've done a good job for us."
<p class="p1">Kelkhoff was asked what he felt his team needed to do to be successful in the tournament.
<p class="p1">"Catch the ball," he said. "Every game we've lost this year, we've made errors early in the game, got behind and it's hard to come back."
<p class="p1">Unlike Senior Legion's nine-inning contests, Junior Legion plays the high school standard seven-inning games in its tournament.
<p class="p1">Goreville is hosting the East Bracket and the four remaining teams of the two brackets will converge in Steeleville on Monday to decide the tournament with games at 5:30 p.m. (losers bracket) and 7:30 p.m. (winners bracket).
<p class="p1">"I think it's going to come down to starting pitching," Wente said. "In postseason, your best players have to step up and be your best players.
<p class="p1">"Our offensive guys, Owen Gross, Dusty Sutton, R.J., again. If they do that, I feel very confident on how we're going to fare in this tournament."
<p class="p1">The top three teams will move on to the 5th Division tournament in Metropolis. Metropolis Post 306 has an automatic bid into the 5th Division tournament due to being the host.
<p class="p1"><span>Thursday</span>
<p class="p1"><span>G1 - Sons of the American Legion (SAL) at Chester (4), 5:30 p.m.</span>
<p class="p1"><span>G2 - PVL-DQ 15U (8) at Steeleville (1), 5:30 p.m.</span>
<p class="p1"><span>G3 - Sparta (7) at PVL-DQ (2), 5:30 p.m.</span>
<p class="p1"><span>G4 - Campbell Hill (6) at Carbondale (3), 5:30 p.m.</span>
<p class="p1"><span>Friday</span>
<p class="p1"><span>At Steeleville</span>
<p class="p1"><span>G5 - Loser G1 vs. Loser G2, 5:30 p.m.</span>
<p class="p1"><span>G6 - Loser G3 vs. Loser G4, 7:30 p.m.</span>
<p class="p1"><span>Saturday</span>
<p class="p1"><span>At Steeleville</span>
<p class="p1"><span>G7 - Winner G1 vs. Winner G2, 11 a.m.</span>
<p class="p1"><span>G8 - Winner G3 vs. Winner G4, 1 p.m.</span>
<p class="p1"><span>G9 - Loser G8 vs. Winner G5, 3 p.m.</span>
<p class="p1"><span>G10 - Loser G7 vs. Winner G6, 5 p.m.</span>
<p class="p1"><span>Sunday</span>
<p class="p1"><span>At Steeleville</span>
<p class="p1"><span>G11 - Winner G9 vs. Winner G10, 1 p.m.</span>
<p class="p1"><span>G12 - Winner G7 vs. Winner G8, 3 p.m.</span>
<p class="p1"><span>G13 - Loser G12 vs. Winner G11, 5 p.m.</span>
<p class="p1"><span>Monday</span>
<p class="p1"><span><span>At Steeleville</span></span>
<p class="p1"><span><span>G1 - Steeleville bracket team w/one loss vs. Goreville bracket team w/one loss, 5:30 p.m.</span></span>
<p class="p1">G2 - Undefeated Steeleville bracket team vs. undefeated Goreville bracket team, 7:30 p.m.
<p class="p1"><span><span>July 19</span></span>
<p class="p1"><span><span>At Steeleville</span></span>
<p class="p1">G3 - Loser G2 vs. Winner G1, 5:30 p.m.
<p class="p1"><span><span>G4 - Winner G3 vs. Winner G2, 7:30 p.m.</span></span>
<p class="p1">July 20
<p class="p1"><span><span>At Steeleville</span></span>
<p class="p1"><span><span>G5 (If necessary) - Winner G4 vs. Loser G4 (if losing team's first loss of tournament), 5:30 p.m.+</span></span>