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For the second consecutive summer, two area Altoona Teener League baseball programs will be sending teams to Babe Ruth World Series national tournament competition.
The Altoona Teener League 18U team will participate in the Babe Ruth World Series that begins competition Friday in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and the 14U team will be participating in the Babe Ruth World Series for that age group that begins Saturday in Eagle Pass, Tex.
The 18U team, coached by Brian Bell, earned its second straight Babe Ruth World Series berth by carding a 5-0 record in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament played at Pine Forge, Pa., near Reading, in late July.
The 14U team, coached by Brad Hatch, will be in the Babe Ruth World Series for the second year, after placing third last season in the 13U World Series in Glen Allen, Va. Eight members of this year's 14U team were also part of the Hollidaysburg squad that won three games in the Little League World Series in Williamsport two summers ago.
The 14U team punched its ticket to the national competition by posting a 4-0 record in the Mid-Atlantic Regional that was held at both Mansion Park and Seitz Field in Altoona last month.
Bell's Altoona team won one game in last season's national tournament at Cape Girardeau, and he is looking for bigger and better things from the team this year.
"I'm very optimistic, I think that we're going to do well,' Bell said. "We're going in with a few players unavailable because of injuries, but we should be able to do well in our pool, and the expectation is that we will get into the single-elimination round that follows pool play.''
There are a total of 17 teams in three pools in the 18U Babe Ruth World Series — six teams in each of two brackets, and five, including the Altoona team, in another bracket. Teams that finish among the top three in their pools will advance to the single-elimination round. The championship game is set for Thursday, Aug. 15 at 6:30 p.m. CDT.
Bell's Altoona squad will be in a bracket that includes teams from the Netherlands, Australia, Virginia, and Missouri.
Bell's team will open tournament play with a 9:30 a.m. CDT game against the Netherlands squad this Friday, and continue pool play with an 11:30 a.m against Australia on Saturday, a 2 p.m. game against Virginia on Sunday, and a 7:30 p.m. game against Missouri next Monday.
Bell's team will be without the services of injured pitchers Paul Wedel, who will be an incoming senior at Hollidaysburg Area High School this fall, and Logan Meyers, an incoming senior at Altoona High School.
But the remaining pitching staff is quite capable, led by lefty E.J. Ulery, an incoming Hollidaysburg senior who tossed a complete-game victory in Altoona's 2-1 win over Lackawanna in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament championship game, which was decided on a walk-off solo homer by catcher Cayden Gibbons, also an incoming senior at Hollidaysburg, in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Ulery and right-handed pitcher Gavin Albright, who will be an incoming senior at Altoona, combined to toss a no-hitter against Pine Forge in one of the regional tournament games. Bell has added two other pitchers -- incoming juniors Leland Baer (Altoona) and Caden Gibbons (Penn Cambria) to his roster to fill the gaps that were created by the injuries.
Hitting standouts for Bell's team have included three incoming Hollidaysburg seniors -- Cayden Gibbons, first baseman-third baseman Jay Albarano, and Bell's son, Gavin, an outfielder, who tweaked an ankle recently and is questionable for the national competition.
"My concern is that we've had some really big injuries, but we obviously played well during the regional tournament,'' Brian Bell said. "We've been able to manufacture runs offensively during the times when we haven't hit the ball particularly well, we are sound defensively, and we still have a lot of pitching.''
For many of the players on Hatch's 14U team, playing on the national stage is something to which they are accustomed. The 13U team reached the semifinals in last year's Babe Ruth World Series, posting a 4-2 record and winding up in third place just a year after many of those same players made a national name for themselves as 12-year-olds in the Little League World Series.
"These kids love the challenge, and they love the moment,'' Hatch said of his team's experience in national showcase competitions. "For the third straight year now for these kids, it's been an amazing run.''
Hatch's team went 4-0 in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament, clinching its World Series berth by posting an 11-7 regional championship game victory over Broomall Newton at Seitz Field.
The team's top pitchers include Aspen Anderson, Tyler McGough, Jackson Boob, Brody Dull and Hatch's son, Braden -- all of whom have had the experience of playing on the national stage since 2022. Other top pitchers include J.D. Brouse, Garret Reese and Gavin Treon.
Anderson is from the Bedford Area School District, Dull is from the Chestnut Ridge School District, Brouse is from the Central Cambria School District, and Reese is from the Somerset Area School District, while the other pitchers are from the Hollidaysburg Area School District.
Leading hitters on this year's team include Braden Hatch and McGough, who also play catcher and shortstop respectively, as well as outfielder Caleb Dietrick (Hollidaysburg) and new addition Brouse -- who stands 6-feet-3 and weighs in at 240. Another big bat for the team has been designated hitter/utility player Cole Lucas (Somerset).
Brad Hatch's Altoona squad will be a member of a 16-team pool at the World Series that includes 10 teams from the United States and six international squads.
The Altoona squad will open the tournament with pool play games against the Land Ridge, Ore. Pacific Northwest team this Saturday in an 11:30 a.m. CDT game, followed by a Sunday game against Del Rio, Tex. at 2 p.m. and an 11:30 a.m. game next Monday against the Aruba National Team.
After pool play concludes, the 16 teams will be seeded, with the top-seeded team playing the 16th-seeded team, the second-seeded team playing the 15th seed, and so on down the line. Following that round of competition, the eight surviving teams will advance to the championship bracket, with the other eight teams in the consolation bracket.
"We're going in with very high expectations,'' Brad Hatch said. "We expect to be in every game, and I like our chances in every game.''
Brad Hatch also expressed his and his team's gratitude for the support that has been extended by the community.
"I want to emphasize how much we appreciate the support by businesses and individuals in our community, who in many cases have stepped up and provided financial donations to help send these kids to Texas for this experience,'' Hatch added. "I couldn't be more thankful.''