From 1953 to 2019: Lennox Legion Post 174 reflects on its Championship tradition

[Editor’s Note: American Legion Baseball is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and in recognition of that milestone, Lennox Legion Post 174 is taking a look back at its own proud baseball tradition. This is the second installment in the series.]

Over the decades, Lennox has fielded highly competitive teams, earning a reputation as one of the most respected Legion Baseball programs in South Dakota. Much of that success can be credited to the many dedicated coaches who have guided players and built the program’s strong foundation. Today’s Post 174 Senior Team is led by Curt Lottman, now in his fourth season, following in the footsteps of coaches such as Johnny Mike Kirchner, Ken Longman, Kevin Krull, Pat Tiefenthaler, Tom Bendt, Tim Umstead, Mike Harrington, Mike Moran, Dave Gubbrud, Larry Bendt, Jeff Fylling, Bruce Van Bockern, Alan Rops, Dave Raabe, Earl Van Ningen, Alvin Atkins, Ken Beringer, and Howard Amen, who coached the 1953 squad.

Throughout the last 60 years, Lennox teams have frequently advanced to regional finals and state tournaments. But three seasons stand out above the rest—1953, 1993, and 2019—when Post 174 claimed State Championships. This following highlights those remarkable teams and the legacy they created: 

1953 Post 174 Legion Team

This was the first Post 174 Team to win a State Championship. At that time, the Class B winner and Class A winner had a two out three playoff to determine the South Dakota State Champion with that team moving on to National Regional Tournament Play. At the State Tournament, Post 174 defeated Mobridge and Britton twice. The Championship game was Post 174 -2, Britton -1. Lennox then faced off with Class A Champ Aberdeen in Lennox. Post 174 defeated Aberdeen 4-1 in Game 1 and defeated them again 12-8 in Game 2. Lennox Post 174 was then awarded the State Championship Trophy. 

The 1953 team relied on pitching and defense. Team members were Ronald Hoffman- C, OF; Mike Poppens - P, OE; Donald Cramer - OF; Marion “Mouse” Albers - 2B; Cortland Carnes - SS; Lloyd Stack - 3B; Robert Jibben - P, OF; Verlyn Groen - C, OF; Charles Stratmeyer - 1B; George Courey - OF; Bernard Braak - OF; James Stratmeyer - OF; Robert Stratmeyer - OF; and Glen Stratmeyer. The team was coached by Howard Amen. 

Some of these players went on to continued their baseball careers.  

• Mike Poppens — signed an MLB contract with the New York Giants. He suffered an arm injury that ended his career. He was the Tournament MVP of the 1953 Championship team. 

Player Perspective — Lloyd Stack: Coach American was a great coach — respected by all the players and a great person. Our team had some talented players Aberdeen players thought we were country hicks but they found out different. My greatest memory was winning and the great hometown crowd support. 

1993 Post 174 Legion Team

It had been 40 years since Lennox and Post 174 had won a State Legion Baseball title. There were great expectations for this team as the majority of that players were returning from the prior season. At that point in time tournament play consisted of District and Regional play before getting to the State Tournament. District play was single elimination and the Post 174 team was a little tight. They defeated Beresford in District Play to advance to Regional play. At that time two teams from the region advanced to State Tournament play. At State, Post 174 used solid pitching and defense to reach the Championship game and defeat Howard behind the pitching of Jason Hammers. The key tournament win was over Vermillion who had a 50 and 1 record. Again it was a team effort - offensively, defensively and pitching. 

Team members of the 1993 team include: Greg Albers, Bill Koerner, Jason Hammers, Landon Klock, Corey Wulf, Johnny Mike Kirchner, Jason Kirchner, Mike Kuper, Chris Clercx, Chad Smith, Matt DeGroot, Brock Rops, Mac Rops, Chad Mechels, Jeremy Friese. 

This team was very athletic and many went to college to pursue sports.

Landon Klock continued his baseball career at Mount Marty University and is a member of the their Hall of Fame. He helped Mount Marty win two regular season conference titles and two tournament conference titles. He was First Team All Conference two times and a two time Academic All American. 

Coach’s Perspective — Tom Bendt: Tom was in his second year coaching Post 174 baseball in 1993 He knew that he had a lot of good athletes which gave the team great flexibility. He also knew he had a lot of pitching talent and there was a lot of speed on the team. He said he was not much older than the team and he needed to earn their respect as a coach, not a friend which says happened without any problems. At the start of the season, he was a little concerned as the team started out 0-6, but by playing double header things started to workout for the team. Things started to come together and all the players came together as a team. He noted this carried on through the State Tournament. On the day of the final game was considering no batting practice. He talked to the players about it and they asked why change — let’s get our swings!

2019 Post 174 Legion Team

The 2019 Post 174 team had been very successful in prior years as many of the players had played on State Championship teams including the 2019 Class B High School Tournament. Pitching and defense was what this team depended on and those two aspects carried them through the regular season and tournament play. In their journey to the State Legion Title, they defeated Dell Rapids, Winner, Hartford/Humboldt, and Redfield. They defeated Redfield 2-0 in the Championship game with Tyson Stoebner pitching the shutout on 75 pitches. 

Team members of the 2019 team included: Camden Wulf, Tanner Miller, Tyson Stoebner, Mason Miller, JD Kirchner, Ray Williams, Brandon Fondness, Brock Anderson, Gavin Sanculi, Zach Foss, Brendon Hone, Quincy Ihnen, Peyton Eich, Zach Leisinger, Brandon Otte, Mason Lottman, Holden Wagner, and Ty Spieler. 

Many of these players were talented athletes and went to college and participated in other sports with success. 

JD Kirchner had great success at the college baseball level at Dakota State. He was Second Team All-Conference twice, First Team All-Conference once, NAIA National Pitcher of the week and NAIA Honorable Mention All American. 

Coach’s Perspective — Johnny Mike Kirchner had been a member o the 1993 Championship team and coached the 2019 Champions — a special moment for him. He noted they were a special group of players and very talented. All he wanted was the players to win and they knew how to win and they had experience of being Champs. He also commented on how was special to win in the team’s hometown and about the great fan support.