RAPID CITY - The 35th annual Black Hills Community Bank Firecracker tournament gets under way today with eight teams from all over the United States vying for the title of one of the elite American Legion baseball tournaments in the country.
Rapid City Post 22 will try to win its 14th Firecracker title in round-robin play against teams from Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, Minnesota, California and Rhode Island.
"It is quite a field and we're really looking forward to it," said Post 22 head coach Dave Ploof. "We know that our fans will be excited to see some of the best Legion teams in the country. They'll get to see top talent from the East Coast to the West Coast."
Post 22 (19-10 overall) opens the tournament with two games today. The Hardhats take on Cheyenne, Wyo., at 12:30 p.m. and come back to play the night game against West Warwick, R.I., at 8 p.m.
"We want to execute and play well," said Ploof. "We're going to need our pitchers to throw quality strikes, our hitters driving the ball and our position players to be moving their feet ready to make the play. We want to be aggressive in every aspect of the game."
Last year's defending Firecracker champion, the Rocky Mountain Lobos from Fort Collins, Colo., returns this year. The Lobos have won three consecutive state titles in Colorado. They play the first game in the Firecracker at 7:30 a.m. against Coon Rapids, Minn.
Also making the long trek to Rapid City this year is Merced, Calif., one of the premier baseball teams in California. Merced, which won the California state championship last season and missed qualifying for the World Series by one game, opens play against Fort Collins at 10 a.m. today.
Las Vegas has been coming to the Firecracker tournament for 23 years, winning the Firecracker title four times and has reached the championship game seven times. Las Vegas plays Missoula, Mont., in its first game at 3 p.m. today. Missoula comes into action with a 39-14 record this season and is always one of the best in Montana.
Missoula will battle West Warwick, R.I., directly after taking on Las Vegas at 5:30 p.m. West Warwick traveled more than 1,800 miles to make its fourth appearance at the Firecracker.
Rounding out the field is Cheyenne, Wyo., which has won seven out of the past eight Wyoming state championships. Cheyenne comes in with a record of 31-7.
Also on the docket for the tournament is a fireworks display Friday following Post 22's game against Coon Rapids. Post 22 will also induct the 1984 World Series team into the hall of fame at Fitzgerald Stadium.
The championship round will take place Sunday with the title game scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
