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TV Babe Ruth 13-year-old All-Stars take 3rd in World Series
Dante Albanese named to All Tournament team

by David Ott

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, Wash., on Aug. 13-22.

Tri-Valley defeated New Jersey, 5-0, in the opening game Aug. 16, then went on during subsequent days to defeat Indiana, 6-1; North Carolina, 11-3; and Washington, 9-1. In the semifinals, North Carolina turned around and defeated Tri-Valley, 4-1, 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, only the sixth 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 Koel earned a gold glove at first base for his outstanding defense.

Other team members are Jared Dawson, Max Moore, Jack Morgan, Matt Neswick, Saiki Roy, Nick Venezia and Nate White. Manager was Sean Venezia, and the team was coached by Rick Fryer and Todd Moore.

Kitsap put on a wonderful Babe Ruth World Series tournament, with a parade of the baseball teams in historic downtown Poulsbo, and a banquet dinner at the Kiana Lodge on the banks of the Puget Sound. The master of ceremonies 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 U.S. flag and the baseballs used for the ceremonial first pitch were delivered by skydivers. Each team was led onto the field by U.S. Navy personal carrying the team's state flag. The players stayed with host families, which provided additional connection with the community, and plenty of activities took place during the two-week tournament.

The Tri-Valley team was one of 10 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 on July 19, then the Pacific Southwest tournament in Surprise, Ariz., on Aug. 4 to qualify for the World Series.