Blog

By Jim Wieners

The Future of American National Baseball looks bright especially since a team of eighth graders won the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association 14 and Under League title.

The Eagles 14 and Under team completed a 14-0 sweep of SLABA 14 and Under teams. Overall, as of May 23, the Eagles-14 and Under was 32-4-2. Win number 32 came May 23 at the Hazelwood (Youth Association) Sports Complex in the first game of a tournament (name not available) with a 12-3 rout of the Capitals 15 Maroon, a St. Charles County-based team that has most of their players complete their high school freshman year. The results of the rest of the tournament was not available and is one of two season-ending tournaments for the Eagle eighth-graders according to head coach Steve Burnett in a June 18 interview at Hazelwood Sports Complex.

The Eagles-14 opened the season in late March while high school teams were playing and the SLABA 15-18 teams as well as American Legion teams opened in late May. American National-14 won five games of a tournament in Chesterfield by outscoring the opposition, 43-9 and four the opponents have winning record.

The Eagles-14 played in two other tournaments earlier this season, going at least 2-0-1 on April 27-29 and went at least 1-1 June 9-10 at Hazelwood Sports Complex against the Stallions-14, a St. Charles County team, but they were not SLABA-14 games. The Eagles-14 would win twice over the Stallions-14 in SLABA-14 games, 13-1 June 18 at Hazelwood Sports Complex and 13-10 June 20 at Founders Park, Lake St. Louis.

The majority of the SLABA-14 game scores by the Eagles-14 were in double-figure runs. One of the games not won by the Eagles-14 in double figures was on April 22 was a 5-1 decision over Travelers-14 in the first of a doubleheader at Hazelwood Sports Complex. The Eagles-14 won the second game of the doubleheader in a rout, 17-7

Four of the Eagles-14 players are heading to Hazelwood West High, two to Hazelwood Central High, two to Pattonville High and two to Lutheran High School North, which has one of the Eagles-14 home fields. One of the players, Kyle VerMehren, currently attends North County Christian School, who won the Missouri Christian State Athletic Association Baseball title and the MCSAA allows for seventh and eighth graders to play high school sports. VerMehren pitched a two-hitter June 18 at Hazelwood Sports Complex, home field to North County Christian School.

Most of the team is small in size but very speedy. “All of the guys are from the area and they get along real well,” said Burnett.