MORGANTOWN — It takes a village.
Last week, the Post 2 American Legion baseball team hosted the Great Lakes Regional Tournament, featuring the state champions from Ohio (Harrison), Michigan (Midland), Illinois (Rock Island and runners-up Barrington), Kentucky (Owensboro), Indiana (Rockport), as well as West Virginia state champ Bridgeport.
At stake for the winner is a greatly-coveted trip to the Legion World Series, and for Post 2, there’s also the chance to promote the program to local players and the national organization as well. And no one in the state knows more about what it takes to pull off such a massive undertaking than recently retired general manager and former coach, Dale Miller.
“We hosted our first regional back in 1999,” Miller said, “as a way to boost the program and recruit the best players in the area. And now that there are so many travel teams out there, Legion ball has unfortunately declined across the country. In our state, the number of teams has dropped from 50 to 18, so it’s more important than ever to provide an attractive incentive to play Legion ball. That means a first-class program, with first-class coaches, and a first-class facility. And we think we have that here.”
West Virginia teams normally are slotted in the Mid-Atlantic region, and Morgantown will host that region’s postseason Tournament for the next two years, but COVID-19 concerns at this season’s scheduled site near Chicago necessitated a venue change, and current Post 2 GM Tyler Barnette volunteered to step in.
“Teams typically have about a year’s advance notice,” Barnette said, “but we still felt confident enough to place a bid. We didn’t get the official word until February, so we’ve had a lot of work to do in a short amount of time.
“However, one of the best things about Morgantown is the way everyone comes together to help, and we’ve gotten such tremendous cooperation from so many different people and groups. The many improvements to Dale Miller Field at Mylan Park have completely transformed our facility, and it’s in great shape. The logistics of hotel accommodations, bus transportation, and so many other little things were put together by Kay Fanok at the Morgantown Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. And when we had that major storm Wednesday night, all it took was a phone call to (Mon County Ballpark and Operations Manager) Craig McIntosh, and we were able to schedule two games the next morning to keep the Tournament on schedule. And so far, things seem to be running fairly smoothly, knock on wood.”
Former Post 2 manager Ernie Galusky remembers just how difficult the job of hosting a regional is — and how much fun it is to travel to one.
“I never worked so hard and so long as I did when we hosted back in 2009,” he said. “It seemed like the details were never done, and it was a challenge to keep the focus on the field at times, both for me and the players. So, the host team, with all their extra responsibilities, can be at a bit of a disadvantage compared to the pure fun of a road trip tournament, where all you have to do is hang out with your buddies and play ball.
“But there’s no doubt that Mylan Park and Morgantown is an ideal location for a regional. With ProPerformance right there for batting cages and workout areas, and Dale Miller Field in beautiful shape, it’s a great venue, and a source of pride for Post 2, for sure.”
Having played in three (2007-09), and managed Post 2 in the 2019 regional as well, Barnette knew what he wanted to present to the Great Lakes teams as they traveled to West Virginia.
“Beyond the field and the accommodations,” he said, “we wanted to make the teams feel as comfortable as possible, so we’ve matched each up with a host family, which acts as a local liaison for Morgantown and the surrounding area – what do to for fun, where the best restaurants are, stuff like that. Give them that ‘home away from home’ feeling. And we certainly hope the teams are enjoying their experience.”
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