The Tri-Valley Babe Ruth 13 Year Old All-Star team came in third place in the Babe Ruth World Series tournament held in Kitsap, Washington on August 13 - 22. The Tri-Valley team was one of ten teams in the Babe Ruth World Series tournament representing the 50 United States and two provinces in Canada. Tri-Valley won the Northern California Championship in Woodland, California on July 19, and then the Pacific Southwest tournament in Surprise, Arizona on August 4 to qualify for the World Series tournament in Kitsap.
Tri-Valley defeated New Jersey 5 – 0 in the opening game of the World Series on August 16, and then they defeated Indiana 6 – 1 on August 17, North Carolina 11 – 3 on August 18 and Washington 9 – 1 on August 19. In the semi finals, North Carolina turned around and defeated Tri-Valley 4 – 1 on August 21 to end Tri-Valley’s excellent run for the World Series title. Overall, Tri-Valley was 14 – 2 for the Summer World Series tournament.
Darroch Koel pitched a no hitter in the World Series against Indiana. It was only the 6th no hitter in the history of the 13 year old Babe Ruth World Series. James Cowick pitched and defeated New Jersey, Joshua Ott defeated North Carolina, and Ryan Bowman defeated Washington. Jack Maloon and Clark Eder also pitched for Tri-Valley.
Dante Albanese had the highest batting average for any left fielder in the World Series tournament, as well as the highest overall batting average for any player in the tournament at .571. Albanese was named to the All Tournament team and won the batting title for the tournament. Jack Fryer had the highest batting average for all shortstops at .417 and Darroch Koel earned a gold glove at first base for his outstanding defense.
Kitsap put on a wonderful Babe Ruth World Series tournament. There was a parade of the baseball teams in historic downtown Poulsbo, and banquet dinner at the Kiana Lodge on the banks of the Puget Sound water way on the Suqaumish Indian tribe’s land. The keynote speaker for the banquet was Jim Lefebvre, 1965 National League Rookie of the year and former manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners. For the opening ceremony at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds baseball field, the US flag and the baseballs used for the ceremonial first pitch were delivered by sky divers. Each team was led onto the field by US Navy personal carrying the team’s state flag. Local Little League players were assigned to each team as bat boys, and each team had two young ladies assigned to them who served as the team ambassadors. The players stayed with local host families which provided for additional connection with the community. Kitsap Babe Ruth and the citizens of the surrounding cities really showed off their community spirit and warm and friendly hospitality throughout the tournament.
Some of the other events and activities during the two week tournament were – a hitting clinic put on by Jim Lefebvre, the 50-50 pot raffle - a tradition for youth baseball, some of the Tri-Valley team went salmon fishing, crabbing and clamming, the team and their families and some of the host families attended a Seattle Mariners game, some people visited the Space Needle and the music museum, rode the monorail, visited Pike’s Fish Market and the first Starbucks, while others visited the Naval Undersea Museum to learn about the history of submarines, and a few witnessed a nuclear powered sub returning home from a 6 month tour on the open seas. The team rode the Bremerton and Bainbridge ferries to and from Seattle several times, and the coaches and families stayed at the historic Silverdale Hotel and Poulsbo Inn.
The Tri-Valley team met many new friends in Kitsap, Washington, and had an experience of a lifetime during the 2012 13 year old Babe Ruth World Series.
Attached is a photo of the Tri-Valley Babe Ruth 13 Year Old All-Star Team:
Front row: Ryan Bowman, Nate White, Nick Venezia, Matt Neswick, Jared Dawson, Dante Albanese
Back row: Manager Sean Venezia, Clark Eder, Saiki Roy, Jack Fryer, Joshua Ott, Max Moore, James Cowick, Jack Maloon, Darroch Koel, Jack Morgan, Coach Rick Fryer and Coach Todd Moore
