The sign of a good, possibly great, team is the ability to play your best when it matters most.

By the looks of it, the Eden Prairie American Legion baseball team is one of these teams.

A couple weeks ago, Eden Prairie won a sub-district tournament by going 3-0.

Last week, and en route to a District 10 title, Eden Prairie was a perfect 4-0.

“We’re hitting the ball really well,” said Eden Prairie Head Coach Scott Hackett.

To prove his point, Hackett mentions an 11-run first inning against Bloomington Blue (18-3 victory) and a six run first against Edina (18-8 victory).

“Scoring first helps us all,” laughs Hackett, “me, the pitcher and everyone else.”

Although everyone in the lineup has had his moment, Lucas Skjefte and Scott Lindner have been the most consistent, collecting multiple hits in each of their four wins.

Lost in all of this is Eden Prairie’s pitching, “solid” by Hackett’s account. Highlights include Madison Boer’s complete-game victory over Osseo and Timmy Miller’s domination of Bloomington Blue.

As an aside, Eden Prairie has been a perfect 7-0 since losing to Blue in the first-ever game at Round Lake Stadium.

Tough draw

As the No. 1 ranked team in the state, one would think Eden Prairie would have an easy state tournament draw, but that’s not how it works.

Instead, first round match-ups are picked out of a hat.

As luck (bad luck) would have it, Eden Prairie opens tournament play against No. 2 ranked Grand Rapids.

“They’ve got the top guns going against each other,” adds Hackett.

Eden Prairie split with Grand Rapids during the legion season and lost to the Thunderhawks during the high school season.

“We owe them one,” said Hackett.

The two teams play Thursday (today) at 1 p.m. at Bloomington’s Red Haddox Field.

When asked if his team feels the pressure of defending its state championship (four actually), Hackett said no.

“This is different group of guys, coach included,” he said.

In his next breath, he said he’s sensed something different since the start of the playoffs.

“We’re playing with an energy I haven’t seen before,” he said.

And he hopes its lasts.

If Eden Prairie were to beat Grand Rapids on Thursday afternoon, they’ll face the winner of Rochester vs. Moorhead later that evening (TBD).