Schedule firming up for Legion baseball

    In three weeks, the first Legion baseball games will be underway.
    In a summer when questions loomed if there would even be baseball, things are now falling into place for the Mid-Nebraska League in which Imperial teams compete.
    Legion Head Coach Bruce Peterson has been busy the past weeks rearranging his junior and senior schedules once Governor Pete Ricketts announced ball teams could start practice June 1 and games on June 18, with numerous guidelines attached.
    Peterson said games within the Mid-Nebraska League, which were to start May 30 for Imperial, will now be played in a four-week regular season from June 18 to July 12.
    After that, coaches will turn in win-loss records, from which separate west and east division tournaments will be seeded.
    Due to the COVID-19 restrictions on ball teams, the junior and senior tournament will be played in a traveling, single-elimination format, Peterson said. The top seeded teams will host the games as the tourneys progress.
    The juniors will play their traveling tourney July 16-19. The seniors will play theirs July 24-29.
    The east and west champions will then play in championship games—the juniors on July 22 and the seniors July 31, which will conclude the summer of baseball.
    Nebraska Legion announced weeks ago it would not be hosting district or state tournaments this year, Peterson recalled.
    That left the leagues to schedule their own if they desired.
    All of the teams in the Mid-Nebraska west division last year, with the exception of Gothenburg, will play this summer, Peterson noted.
    In all, he hopes for about 10-12 junior/senior double-headers and some tournaments in Imperial’s regular season before the east-west tourneys start.
    While Nebraska Legion is not sponsoring end-of-season tournaments, they are registering players and providing insurance as in the past, Peterson said.