GLENVILLE – The final statistics told a story of inexperience for the 2001 Glenville-Emmons American Legion baseball team.

Friday, August 17, 2001

GLENVILLE – The final statistics told a story of inexperience for the 2001 Glenville-Emmons American Legion baseball team.

Opposing pitchers struck out 93 G-E batters while walking 36, a ratio that points to a lack of experience at the varsity level and led to a team batting average of .256.

&uot;There were times when we put the ball in play real well,&uot; said coach Louie Toulouse, whose team finished 7-8. &uot;Other times we were just overmatched by pitchers. I think that’s characteristic of a team that’s fairly inexperienced.&uot;

Paul Kleven had far and away the best offensive numbers, batting .533 with a team-best 16 hits and an on-base average of .625.

&uot;He’s got a lot of talent,&uot; said Toulouse of Kleven, who played golf during the spring high school season. &uot;It’s just a matter of deciding whether he wants to play baseball or golf.&uot;

The next best batting average among the starters was .289 by Rich Mathis, whose on-base percentage was .412; he scored a team-high nine runs. Mathis and Matt Learn had the most at-bats with 45 each.

Jay Wadding led the team with two home runs and eight runs batted in. Learn, Nick Flatness, Adam Bremer and Matt Webb each hit two doubles. Learn had the only triple. Dustin Peterson had the most sacrifices, three, while Chase Rayman led the team with eight stolen bases. Wadding and Mitch Meier tied for a team-high seven walks.

Mathis registered a team-leading 2.56 earned run average, with 28 strikeouts and nine walks in 41 innings; he was 3-3. Meier was 3-3 with a 3.00 ERA in 35 innings; he struck out 40 and walked five.

The rest of the team included Brian Soper, Mike Yocom, Dylan Thompson, Adam Bremer, Nick Walk and Dustin Honsey.

&uot;A lot of guys got a lot of playing time,&uot; said Toulouse. &uot;Hopefully, the kids got some good experience for next spring, which is kind of why we do the Legion program. We use it as a stepping stone for the high school program.&uot;