GROTON – While Groton is no stranger to State B American Legion Baseball Tournaments, the current group of players has never competed in one.

Groton hosted the event in 2021 and last qualified for the state tourney in 2018.

This year’s team has experienced a bit of everything, including multiple wins and losses in walk-off contests.

“We’ve pretty much been in every situation this year, it feels like,” said Groton coach Seth Erickson, “so that’s good experience for us, just to kind of know what we should do now in those type of situations.”

Interestingly enough, it was a rough patch of the season that proved to be a turning point, according to Erickson.

The squad competed in a tournament in Omaha, Neb., where it did not win a game.

“It’s funny, because when we were down there, we felt like we played just terrible the whole weekend,” Erickson said.

However, after Erickson had time to reflect on the competition, he also realized that his team had faced some of the best pitching it would see all season.

“I think that was one of the turning points for us, because when we got back, we kind of started this winning streak,” Erickson said.

Groton immediately won six straight games upon returning from that event and now brings a nine-game winning streak in the state tournament, which runs Friday through Tuesday in Salem.

The squad features a balanced attack up and down the lineup led by seniors Bradin Althoff (the team’s top hitter), Dillon Abeln (the team’s top pitcher), Colby Dunker, Ryan Groeblinghoff, and Braxton Imrie.

Then there is standout shortstop Brevin Fliehs, who anchors the infield.

“Brevin actually played a lot of outfield for us the last few years,” Erickson said. “Shortstop was something that we always knew he could do, he just didn’t get a chance to play that very often. He’s the type of kid where I think you could put him anywhere on the field and I think he’d be good.”

Groton has quality pitching depth, led by Abeln.

“I consider Dillon our ace. If you look at stats for him, he’s got decent stats, but people don’t realize he throws against all the top teams,” Erickson said. “Every really good, great, team we’ve played, we’ve trusted Dillon to go out there. He’s been really solid for us since I’ve been coaching.”

Groton faces the host team Salem-Montrose-Canova at 6:30 p.m. Friday in the final opening round game. Erickson is expecting the atmosphere to be electric.

“I was telling the boys it’s going to be fun,” Erickson said. “Anytime you get to play that nightcap game in front of all those people, it’s going to be fun and exciting.”

The two teams met earlier this season with Groton winning 4-1. Erickson said that contest doesn’t mean much now.

He labeled defending state champion Dell Rapids as the pre-tournament favorite, but also noted that it is a strong field.

“I’ve heard really good things about pretty much every team in there,” Erickson said.

Erickson noted it would be nice if his squad could grab an early lead in state tourney games, because his team plays a bit more relaxed when it has a cushion.

He said timely hitting will play a key role in order to make a major run in the tourney.

“I think we’re going to have to hit the ball when we need to,” Erickson said. “We’ve done a pretty good job here the last two weeks of scoring multiple runs in an inning. … I think our pitching will be there. I think we’ve pitched good all year. That’s not something I worry too much about. It’s putting the ball in play in situations where we need to score a run or two.”

While Groton has experienced a bit of everything on the season, the players are in for something they’ve never experienced before when they compete this weekend.

“This group of kids, they’ve have never played in a Legion tournament,” Erickson said, “so they’re very, very excited to get down there and show everybody what we can do.”