A majority of River Falls’ varsity baseball players have chosen to play club or amateur baseball this summer instead of Legion competition, which has paved the way for younger Wildcats to get precious varsity experience throughout the summer season.

This year’s River Falls Legion Post 121 baseball team features just a handful of players who have ever seen legitimate innings of varsity action. The roster consists primarily of JV athletes looking to refine skills and develop an identity before next spring’s high school season.

Given River Falls’ lack of returning varsity experience, Legion Post 121 was the youngest most inexperienced team at both weekend tournaments thus far. Despite that, River Falls has held its own and amassed a 6-4 overall record through the first two weeks of action.

For Legion head coach Ryan Bishop, who also coaches the River Falls High School baseball program, the opening ten games and two weekend tournaments have already taught his young roster a lesson. If they take care of the fundamentals, they’ll compete with anyone.

“We have no doubt been the youngest team at both of those tournaments,” Bishop said. “Our guys are learning that if they can control the basics, they will be competitive regardless of other variables. It’s been fun for our coaching staff to start seeing their confidence build every time they take the field. In the bigger picture, that’s the most important part of developing a young team.”

River Falls hosted the first Legion tournament of the summer and gave the hometown fans no shortage of cheering fodder. In the first contest of that tournament, River Falls notched a 2-1 victory against Fond du Lac. River Falls junior Tyler Nelson tossed a complete-game victory and tallied four strikeouts, allowing just six hits and zero earned runs.

Senior Eli Condon took the mound in the second game and threw a four-hitter in the 6-2 win against Holmen. Condon struck out eight and allowed just one earned run in his dominant performance on the hill.

Junior Hayden Bottolfson pitched the final game of the tournament against a tough Chippewa Falls squad. The contest turned into an offensive shootout, as River Falls edged Chippewa in a 13-9 victory to sweep through the opening tournament of the summer.

River Falls dropped a pair of mid-week contests against Stillwater and New Richmond before going 2-2 at the Chippewa Falls tournament the following weekend. Legion Post 121 tallied wins against Stevens Point and Marshfield but lost to Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls.

The 6-4 overall record through two weeks has been accompanied by flashes of brilliance as well as growing pains of a young squad. For Bishop, the pitchers have been a highlight. Of the five who have thrown major innings, just one, Condon, has any prior varsity pitching experience.

“We’ve played some good ball through our two tournaments the past couple of weekends,” Bishop said. “Our main pitchers have thrown the tournament games and have done a great job against top-notch opponents. We’ve had some learning moments in the field, but the defense has stepped up and made plays to give us a chance every game.”

River Falls’ offense may not be scoring runs at a historic pace, but the younger players are slowly becoming accustomed to the varsity-caliber pitching that they had previously never seen. According to Bishop, his players are not only generating more hits, but they’re starting to work counts and extend at-bats like many veteran players often do.

“We’re proud of how our guys have battled at the plate,” Bishop said. “Not huge numbers, but consistently tough at-bats. We won a lot of at-bats without ever getting a hit, but rather moving runners or just making a pitcher throw ten pitches before lining out. Those are winning at-bats that play a huge role in the game, although there’s nothing to show for it in the book.”

River Falls’ young players have demonstrated that they will step up and battle in the face of adversity. While the Wildcats’ high school team is often expected to win games, the Legion team regularly faces more experienced programs.

In doing so, they’ve been in a relatively new underdog role. However, they’ve performed – often at a high level – even while being expected to struggle against more veteran-laden teams. Coach Bishop spoke about another lesson his young squad has learned this summer.

“We played well to beat some really good teams, but they also learned a lot in the process,” Bishop said. “One of the lessons is believing and expecting more, regardless of what it might look like on paper. Baseball, more than any other sport, has too many variables to think otherwise. Our coaching staff is really proud of our team’s mindset more than anything so far.”

In addition to team success, River Falls players have enjoyed individual accolades. The aforementioned senior pitcher Eli Condon was selected to play in this weekend’s Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-Star Classic.

During his senior campaign this spring, Condon amassed a 7-1 record as a starting pitcher and posted a 0.84 ERA. He tallied 81 strikeouts and just 12 walks across more than 50 innings on the mound this year.

“Eli had a great spring and a great career overall for us,” Bishop said. “Not only does Eli get it done on the field, but he is one of the best teammates you’ll ever find. He has truly earned the opportunity and I can’t think of anyone more deserving to represent River Falls baseball in the All-Star Classic.”