Orangemen set to hunt down another title in Legion tournament

BEATRICE - The Orangemen are making final preparations before they kick off their American Legion tournament.

The third seed Orangemen kick things off on Friday with a match up against sixth seeded Aurora, and head coach Chris Belding knows what’s at stake.

“It’s fun. It kind of gets to crunch time and you get down to it,” Belding said. “It gets the juices flowing, because if you lose you go home.”

Belding said his team has a big upper hand in one major category and that’s pitching.

"I feel like we have 5 or 6 guys who can beat anyone we play against," Belding said. "I feel good about our pitchers."

One of those arms in a deep arsenal of pitchers is recent Beatrice graduate and ace Zane Hoffman, who played a big role in the Orangemen’s state title run.

"I feel like we have a lot of grit and we also have a ton of experience from the state tournament games so that's nice," Hoffman said. 

Multiple American Legion tournament games such as the Beatrice game and the Fairbury/Crete match up will be available on your radio dial on Ol’ Red 99.5. Beatrice has a strong backing by their city which goes a long way.

"Beatrice has always been that way, it's a special town," Belding said. "I've always said, through and through, Beatrice is a baseball town, so it's a special place and it's a special time to be in Beatrice,"

Hoffman, as a player, said it's a special feeling.

"As a player, just seeing all the fans there means a lot," Hoffman said. "The stands at Werner were just filled with friendly faces," 

With Beatrice a three seed and Hickman the overall number one, there’s a chance for a state title rematch. With that said, the Orangemen are focused now on what lies ahead.

"We have other teams ahead of us, but if that does happen, I'm looking forward to it," Hoffman said.