Lawrence Post 414 manager Jason Zegarski was looking forward to having a double-barreled Eilbacher attack this summer.
It didn’t quite work out that way but, as “Ziggy” discovered, having one in the fold can still be pretty profitable.
Recent Notre Dame graduate Lance Eilbacher played in the Mercer County American Legion League for the first time and made quite an impact.
The Titusville resident hit .348 in the regular season and was second on the team to fellow Hopewell Township product Jeffrey Blake with 24 hits. (Blake had 25, along with a .410 average and 23 RBI). Eilbacher was third on the squad with 20 RBI, led the team with 11 doubles, and added one triple and two home runs.
In Lawrence’s 14-1 win over Washington Township in the District 4 State Tournament, which gave Post 414 its fourth straight appearance in the State Final 8, Eilbacher contributed with two hits and two RBI. In an 8-6 district win over North Hamilton two days earlier, he had two more hits.
Lawrence began Final 8 play July 21, and while Zegarski has cherished Lance’s contributions, he can only dream what it would have been like to have his twin brother Logan on the team.
“The plan was to have them both,” the manager said. “But Logan got hurt in one of the later Notre Dame games and unfortunately had to get surgery on his shoulder.”
The twin terrors were outstanding in their final two years with Notre Dame. This past season Logan led the Irish in hitting at .493 with a team-high 33 hits, 26 RBI, 11 doubles and three homers. Lance checked in at .392 with 31 hits, five doubles, three triples, a homer and 12 RBI. Both scored 22 runs. In their junior seasons, they each hit over .400 and combined for 38 runs and 38 RBI.
This was not the first summer they did not play together, as they were on different squads with the Diamond Jacks travel program. But the two always motivate each other.
“He pushes me a lot,” Lance said. “Off-season is a big time for me and him. We go to the cages together, we push each other. It’s like having a built-in throwing partner. We’ll go out there, I’ll throw to him, he throws to me, we go hit together, we get our work done.”
The Eilbachers moved from Hillsborough to the Banks of the Delaware prior to ninth grade. Covid-19 wiped out their freshman year. Logan made varsity as a sophomore and hit .233, and the two exploded as juniors.
“Notre Dame helped a lot,” Eilbacher said. “It gave me confidence and it just proved to me where I was against other high schoolers. My junior year I wasn’t supposed to have a spot and then a couple kids quit and I beat out a couple kids and that’s when I really persevered, got my confidence and started playing really well.”
Legion ball was not on his radar prior to this summer; as Lance wanted to show his wares to college recruiters. But with him and Logan both secured by Catholic University in Washington, D.C., it was time to have fun this summer.
“I heard about it from (ND/Post 414 teammates Justin Prekop and Chase Burrows),” Eilbacher said. “They both go to Notre Dame with me. I wanted somewhere to play, because Diamond Jacks didn’t have a team for the summer. So I gave it a shot. It was pretty fun.
“It’s definitely a lot more laid back. I don’t have much pressure like ‘Oh I have to do this, or that.’ I just go out and have fun.”
Zegarski noted that it’s a common occurrence in legion. Despite the fact involvement keeps dwindling, some solid high school graduates enjoy the lower key approach that still provides good competition before college.
“It happens a lot with the seniors,” Zegarski said. “Senior year there’s not much travel ball to be played because you know where you’re going to school, so they want to come play here.”
Eilbacher’s addition helped Lawrence carry a 17-7 overall record into the Final 8, where Lawrence opened against MCALL rival Hamilton Post 31. The flyhawk has been key at the plate and in the field.
“He’s been our centerfielder and number-three hitter most of the season,” Zegarski said. “He can go get ‘em, he’s got a great arm and has thrown a couple guys out at the plate this year. Once teams see that, their running game starts to shut down a little bit, which is nice as well.
“With our lineup he can hit anywhere. He’s very aggressive. If you ever watch him swing he goes after those first couple pitches but it’s good, he has a couple homers. Sometimes we tell him ‘You gotta tone it down a little bit,’ But it’s nice to have that aggressive approach. He’s up there, he wants to hit.”
Eilbacher feels the casual summertime approach of legion helped him relax this season.
“I found my groove,” he said. “Hitting wise it’s more laid back here than it is in high school. I guess it’s more of a comfort thing.”
Lance hopes to carry that comfort with him to Catholic, where he will room with Hamilton West graduate Mac Meara.
Concerning his choice of schools, Eilbacher said “It was a hard decision for me. I had a couple other offers I was weighing out. But I knew I would play at Catholic my freshman year because they had seniors graduating. They told me I would compete for a spot. And their business program is what I want to major in so it had my track for what I wanted to do.
“Catholic actually came out of nowhere. Scranton was my other choice because they had a really good business program. It was a battle about which one I wanted to go to and I decided on Catholic. I didn’t know Mac personally until I went on a visit and he was there and we started talking. I knew of him because of Hamilton West but after that we were in contact and he let me know he was going so we decided to room together.”
Asked if Logan was a roommate option, he laughed and said ‘No, 18 years is enough.”
As roommates, maybe. But he is certainly anxious to have his brother as a teammate once again.
Lance Eilbacher hit .348 with 2 HR and 20 RBI for Lawrence Post 414 in American Legion Baseball this summer. (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
