Legion A Northwest Regional Tournament starts Wednesday in Roseburg

The American Legion baseball season isn’t done just yet in Douglas County.

The Roseburg Dr. Randol’s Crowns are hosting the American Legion A Northwest Regional starting Wednesday at Champion Car Wash Field. The tournament draws teams from Montana, Idaho, Utah and Alaska.

It’s rare to still be playing baseball this late in the summer. Many young athletes have started turning their attention to fall sports, but Crowns player Amos Bowers is happy to put the transition off a little longer.

“It’s exciting. Football is starting up, in fact I actually had football today, but I’m glad to still be on a baseball field and not on a football field yet,” Bowers said.

The Crowns didn’t reach the Oregon American Legion A state tournament during the regular season, but they knew they’d be playing in the regional tourney as the host. Bowers says that has taken off some of the pressure.

“We’ve got nothing to lose. We’re just hoping for our ‘A’ game across our whole team and just looking to put on a show,” Bowers said.

Ryan Shaver talked about how the Crowns are trying to prepare mentally for the big stage this week.

“Not to be overly excited or too scared because there’s going to be a lot of people here,” Shaver explained. “There may be some scouts from teams somewhere, so we just want to play and have fun, just like usual.”

The Northwest Regional tournament will run through Sunday, when a champion is crowned. The Crowns play their first tournament game on Wednesday at 7 p.m. All of the games will be played at Champion Car Wash Field.