2024

2024 saw the Post 94 program expand, for the first time, to two Seniors teams and one Juniors team. All three teams played strong schedules and had extremely good seasons. Chad Bush again took the helm for Post 94, managing the Post 94 Seniors Black/College Prep team with assistant coaches Hank Curry and Ryan Troxel. Jim MacKenzie managed the newly established Post 94 Seniors Green, assisted by Danny Bruno. Dom Ortiz managed the Post 94 Juniors, assisted by Nick Koprcina and Todd Belsha. In all, over 45 young men played baseball for Post 94 in the 2024 season.
The Seniors Black played, perhaps, the most challenging schedule in Post 94 history, which included 2023 Indiana American Legion state champion Lafayette Post 11, 2023 Illinois American Legion state champion Barrington Post 158, perennial Michigan state contender Stevensville Post 568, perennial Indiana state contender Kokomo, Hobart Post 502, Palos (IL) Post 1993, two games with Morris Chiefs travel baseball 17U team, and a summer-college team rostered with Indiana Tech players. For its season-ending American Legion tournament play, Post 94 again won the Regional Tournament for Region 1 played in South Bend, and followed-up with another 3rd-place finish in the Indiana state tournament, losing a heartbreaking 5-4 semi-final game to ultimate state champion, Evansville Pate (who also finished 2nd in the national Great Lakes Regional Tournament). In total, the 2024 Post 94 Seniors Black played 29 games while compiling an 18-7-4 record against elite competition. The 2024 Seniors Black squad included Brayden Barrett, Troy Barrett, Nate Brumfield, Gabe Bush, Drew Catron, Edward Curry, Ben Dubbs, Jackson Fronek, Greg Guernsey, Adler Holtz, Oliver Holtz, Daniel Klapp, Kaden Matthews, Nick Sullivan, Zach Troxel, Jack Wheeler, Drayden Wilcox and Gordon Wineland.
The Post 94 Seniors Green team also had an outstanding season, posting a 15-8 record in 23 games, highlighted by a strong outing in the Stevensville Post 568 CB Memorial tourney in June, and then in post-season play, finishing in 3rd place in the American Legion Region 1 tournament in South Bend. The 2024 Seniors Green squad included Korben Anderson, Caysen Bontrager, Nick Bravo, Christian Briseno, Noah Duhammell, Zach Fender, Vincent Fox, William Jepsen, Hunter Lang, Austen MacKenzie, Tyler NiCastro, Nate Nightingale, Nate Redman, Michael Reeves, Nathan Simpson, Rocco Venice and Nathan Winchip.
The Post 94 Juniors team played its typical extremely challenging schedule, including games with Kokomo Post 6, Palos (IL) Post 1993, Hobart Post 502, Plymouth Post 27 and Barrington (IL) Post 158. The Post 94 Juniors again captured the Regional 1 tournament championship, and advanced to the State Tournament in Kokomo and finished in 4th place. The Post 94 Juniors played 25 total games and finished with a 14-10-1 record. The 2024 squad included Jude Belsha, Seth Belsha, Jaxson Burns, Ben Carpenter, Troy Danzi, Nolan Glowski, Tyler Graf, William Jepsen, Jace Lee, CJ Ortiz, Ben Oszust, Justin Radinsky, Nate Redman and Michael Reeves.
Post 94 players, managers and coaches also continued dedicated volunteer involvement with Valparaiso Parks’ Challenger Baseball Program in 2024. Jim MacKenzie continued to spearhead that program, which encourages 5-22 year-old boys and girls with physical and/or intellectual challenges to participate in weekly baseball practices and games at Valparaiso’s Samardzija Field, and other park programs in NW Indiana.