The Hays Eagles Senior American Legion baseball team will open play Wednesday at the AA/AAA State Tournament at Jaycee Ballpark in Pittsburg. The Eagles will face the other three AAA state qualifiers in pool play. The top two teams from the AAA and AA pools will advance to single-elimination bracket play on Saturday. (full schedule below).
The Eagles (19-4) open with the host team, the Pittsburg Patriots (19-7) at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. They will face the Kansas Senators (21-11) at 12:30 p.m. Thursday then close out pool play against the Ottawa Arrows (15-18) at 12:30 p.m. Friday.
The Eagles are making their fourth straight state tournament appearance. They lost in the finals of the last state tournament played in 2019 at Larks Park. There was no state tournament in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Because they are the host team, Pittsburg automatically qualified. The Patriots played in and won the Emporia Zone Tournament going 2-0. They defeated Ottawa in the finals. The Arrows went 1-2 at zone and are 15-18 on the season.
The Senators, who are out of Topeka, came back through the losers bracket to win their own zone tournament. After losing their opener to the Salina Falcons, the Senators came back to beat Leavenworth then knocked off the Falcons twice to advance.
The Eagles are 2-0 against the Kansas Senators and the Ottawa Arrows this summer. They beat the Senators 4-2 in the Senators tournament in Topeka on June 6th then won 4-1 at the Wild West Fest Tournament in Hays July 1st.
The Eagles beat the Arrows 5-4 in Topeka on June 5th then knocked them off 10-6 at the Wild West Fest Tournament in Hays on July 1st.
The Eagles qualified for state after winning the Great Bend Zone 3 Tournament beating the host Chiefs twice.
2021 Kansas Senior Legion State Tournament
July 28-31, 2021
Pittsburg, Kan.
Pool A Teams
A1: Larned (10-8)
A2: Silver Lake (18-7)
A3: Marysville (14-10)
A4: Republic County Rebels (10-13)
Pool B Teams
B1: Kansas Senators (21-11)
B2: Ottawa Arrows (15-18)
B3: Hays Eagles (19-4)
B4: Pittsburg Patriots (19-7)
Wednesday, July 28
Game 1: Larned vs. Silver Lake, 1pm
Game 2: Kansas Senators vs. Ottawa Arrows, approx. 3:30pm
Game 3: Silver Lake vs. Republic County Rebels, approx. 6pm
Opening Ceremonies (All teams present in uniform), approx. 8:15pm
Game 4: Approx. 8:30 pm, Hays Eagles vs. Pittsburg Patriots, approx. 8:30pm
Thursday, July 29
Game 5: Larned vs. Marysville, 10am
Game 6: Kansas Senators vs. Hays Eagles, approx. 12:30pm
Game 7: Silver Lake vs. Republic County Rebels, approx. 6pm
Game 8: Ottawa Arrows vs. Pittsburg Patriots, approx. 8:30pm
Friday, July 20
Game 9: Silver Lake vs. Marysville, 10am
Game 10: Ottawa Arrows vs. Hays Eagles, approx. 12:30pm
Game 11: Larned vs, Republic County Rebels, approx. 6pm
Game 12: Kansas Senators vs. Pittsburg Patriots, approx. 8:30pm
*Top 2 teams from each pool will advance to single-elimination
bracket play.
Tie-Breakers: Best Record, Head-to-Head, Total Runs Allowed, Total Runs Scored,
Coin Flip
Saturday, July 31
Game 13: TBD, 10am
Game 14: TBD, approx. 12:30pm
Game 15: winner game 13 vs. winner game 14, approx. 3:30pm
HAYS EAGLES (19-4) - State titles (10): 1961, 1967, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1978, 1981, 2012, 2013
KANSAS SENATORS (21-11) - State titles (0)
LARNED POST 106 (10-8) - State titles (4): 1990, 1990, 2000, 2016, 2019
MARYSVILLE POST 163 (14-10) - State titles (0)
OTTAWA ARROWS (15-18) - State titles (7): 1994, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2015, 2016, 2017
PITTSBURG PATRIOTS (19-7) - State titles (4): 1970, 2008, 2009, 2014
REPUBLIC COUNTY REBELS (10-13) - State titles (0)
SILVER LAKE (18-7) - State titles (8): 1975, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1989, 1992, 2005,