Red Sox gear up for district tournament

By Eric Wade

Daily Mail Sports Editor

"We got the No. 1 seed and that's exciting. At the end of the day, it's just a number, really."

Though the Nevada Red Sox American Legion baseball team got the top seed for this year's district tournament, head coach Jerrod Alexander isn't quite ready to call his squad the one to beat just yet. With just four teams in the district, the fact that the Red Sox got the top seed isn't quite as meaningful as it could be heading into this year's postseason.

"It could be any of us," Alexander said. "The four teams are pretty well evenly matched.

"Us and Warrensburg kind of are the top two, but Clinton and Holden aren't too far behind. So, we're going to have to show up to play."

The Red Sox might enter the tournament at a bit of a disadvantage since a number of factors including players who were unavailable on weekends due to other responsibilities and rainouts led to the cancellation of a number of games and an inability for Alexander to get all 16 of the originally scheduled district games in during the regular season.

Of those 16 games, the Red Sox were only able to play 11, finishing with a district record of 7-4.

"We played every team, but we didn't play them four times, some of them," Alexander said. "We played Clinton four times and that was the only team we played four times."

Despite missing five district games, however, the record Nevada had this season against district opponents was enough to earn the tournament's top seed.

"It was mostly over emails, but we just had to submit our district record," Alexander said of the seeding meeting. "And of the games we actually played, we were 7-4."

Alexander said a number of factors contributed to the shortened season he and his squad were forced to play, including the fact that the other three teams in the district are from well north of Nevada, the closest being Clinton.

"I think it played a big part in it," Alexander said of the distance issue. "Obviously, the teams up north didn't want to drive down here, but they have to understand that they come down here one time and we have to go up there four times."

On the other hand, Alexander said he didn't really put much thought into that part of the equation since his main emphasis has been on controlling what he can and forgetting everything else as much as possible.

That's not something we can control, but it's just how it is and we have to deal with it," he said,

Despite the abbreviated season and the issues that have come with it pertaining to knowing just what to expect from the district tournament and the remainder of the postseason, Alexander said he is confident his squad should be ready to perform at its peak. The biggest reason for that, he said, was the simple fact that though he does have a lot of young players, those players bring with them a significant amount of experience.

"A lot of the young kids I have have played ball together with the Midwest Athletics throughout growing up, so playing that competitive ball gives them an edge," Alexander said. "Couple that with the kids that I've got that are older and have played high school ball for a year or two, that's a good combination."

As the postseason tournaments in Legion ball have been in the past, this year's tournament is set to be played in a double elimination format. Both of the tournament's opening-round games will be played on Tuesday, with the second round of the winner's bracket and the first round of the loser's bracket to be played on Wednesday.

The tournament championship is scheduled for Thursday, but will be extended into a two-game set that will finish on Friday if the loser's bracket winner takes Thursday's game.

"They're excited about it and I expect them to be, but we're going to have to show up and play," Alexander said of his squad entering this year's tournament.

Following the Red Sox in the seeding order were Warrensburg at No. 2, Clinton at No. 3 and Holden at No. 4.

The Red Sox open the tournament against Holden Tuesday, and Alexander said Derek O'Dell will get the start on the mound. Though O'Dell and the rest of the Red Sox have played well this season, Holden is among the teams that hold a victory over Nevada and based on the situation, Alexander said he thought Holden would be likely to use the pitcher who beat Nevada during the regular season, making Tuesday's matchup much less of a given as it might appear to be on paper.

"There's no easy win, so we're going to have to show up and play," Alexander said.

First pitch in Tuesday's contest is set for 6 p.m., in Warrensburg, Mo.