BY STEVE KRAH
American Legion Baseball in Indiana has reached the championship stage for 2023.
State tournaments are to begin this week for Junior (17U) and Senior (19U) divisions in Kokomo.
To be age-eligible Junior players must not turn 18 and Senior players must not turn 20 in 2023.
CFD Investments Stadium in Highland Park will be the locale for the six-team Indiana Junior American Legion State Finals on Day 1 then switches to Northwestern High School for the remainder of the July 20-24 event.
Highland Park will be site of the entire eight-team Indiana Senior American Legion State Finals July 21-25.
Both tournaments are double-elimination.
Teams qualified through regionals — three for Juniors (hosted by Valparaiso Post 94, Plymouth Post 27 and Newburgh Post 44) and four for Seniors (hosted by South Bend Post 151, Lafayette Post 11, Crawfordsville Post 72 and Rockport Post 254).
The Junior State Finals features regional champions South Haven Post 502, Plymouth Post 27 and Newburgh Post 44 plus Valparaiso Post 94, Kokomo Post 6 and Lake Station Post 100.
Vying in the Senior State Finals are regional winners South Haven Post 502, Lafayette Post 11, Terre Haute Post 346 and Rockport Post 254 as well as Valparaiso Post 94, Kokomo Post 6, Madison Post 9 and South Bend Post 151.
The Region 5 tournament for Seniors (Great Lakes Region) features teams from Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin and is Aug. 2-6 at Midland, Mich. Midland Post 165 won the region crown in 2022.
Juniors do not advance past the State Finals.
The 2023 American Legion World Series is Aug. 10-15 in Shelby, N.C. Troy (Ala.) Post 70 won the 2022 championship.
According to the American Legion website, Indiana had 21 Senior teams and nine Junior squads in 2023. There were nearly 3,000 Legion teams — Senior and Junior — nationwide.
The enrollment limit for Legion teams has increased over the years. It is currently 7,500 for grades 10-12.
Jerry Schrock, a 60-year-old U.S. Marines veteran and Indiana American Legion Baseball board member the past few years, has been Indiana ALB Chairman of the Board since January, taking over for Owen Wells.
“Owen needed or wanted to step down,” says Schrock. “I saw a need and an opportunity.”
Schrock is kept busy conducting meetings and answering calls and texts about various Legion baseball matters from around the state.
Elkhart resident Schrock was involved with Bristol Post 143 for the past decade and has been a high school assistant coach at Elkhart Central and — more recently — Concord. Jerry and son Luke Schrock (who played Legion ball and at Concord and Cornerstone University and is now sports information director at Bethel University in Mishawaka, Ind.). have coached in the Jim Reinebold Fall Baseball Camp in South Bend.
Drawing on his own life experiences, Schrock wants to be a positive example to athletes.
“I know I can be a positive influence to young men,” says Schrock, who was a 1981 graduate of Elkhart Central High School and standout distance runner for Blue Blazers coach Marshall Sellers.
It was Sellers who pointed out that Schrock’s peer group was holding him back and helped him set high goals.
Schrock and his siblings grew up poor. Their parents were injured in a motorcycle accident and on disability. This made going to college financially unrealistic.
But there was the armed services.
“I wanted to join the toughest branch of the service possible,” says Schrock of why he chose the Marines, which had him running and hiking with 68 pounds of gear strapped to him. It seemed natural to him since he ran 3 miles while delivering the Chicago Tribune as a kid.
As an eighth grader, Jerry was in a motorcycle accident that paralyzed his left arm. To strengthen his arm muscles, he did many push-ups. He took a deck of cards and what he drew would be the number of reps for push-ups and sit-ups etc. and continued this kind of training.
That’s why he whizzed through physical fitness tests in the Marines. While in high school, his personal bests were 12:34 for 2.5 miles and 15:47.20 for 5,000 meters and he went on to run in several marathons (26.2 miles).
“I tell player to do something baseball every single day,” says Schrock.
The founder and director of Paavo Running Camps, Paavo Coaching Clinics and PPLI Teaching Workshops, Sellers always mentions the Jerry Schrock Rule — “Make ‘em pay for 50 steps.”
“This young man ran with his heart first followerd by his legs — 50 steps at a time,” wrote Sellers in a newsletter back in 2012. As a racer, Schrock could get usually get a pursuer to back down with half hundred strong steps.
Schrock, who is a long-time maintenance manager for Thor Motor Coach, has been married to Wilma for 38 years. Jerry got into baseball because of Luke.
While watching a practice one day Jerry noticed that Jim Treadway was dragging the field when he could have been taking that time to talk with his players so he volunteered to hop on the tractor.
“I see a need and I fill it,” says Schrock. “I see myself as a helper or servant and not a leader.”
Treadway, who managed Bristol Post 143 for many years and coached at Elkhart Central and Concord, became a mentor to Schrock and he returned advice or was just a good listener.
“Sometimes Tread calls me up and say, “Jerry, I need to talk to my conscience,” says Schrock. “He uses me as a sounding board.”
As Indiana ALB chairman of the board, it’s part of Schrock’s responsibility (as he says “I have the ability. How will I respond?”) is to make sure deadlines are met and rules are followed.
“The rules have been established for many, many years,” says Schrock. “Rules can’t be circumvented year after year.
“It’s time to pull the reins back and remind people of the rules.”
Schrock notes that a player’s original birth certificate — not a copy — must be presented when filling out the “book” — or official team roster.
There is also the matter of recruiting players. In some cases, teams are very close together and draw from the same high schools.
Each team denotes a “base” school from which other teams may not draw players getting the proper transfer documentation (Form 76).
As a reminder, Schrock proposes a “rule of the week” or “rule of the month” be emailed to those in the Indiana ALB community in the off-season. American Legion is largely a volunteer organization.
“There are a lot of things I want to do,” says Schrock. “There are changes I want to make if I’m still around.
“How long is my season? I’ll pray about it. I’ll ask God where I need to be.”
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