Gallery by Tina Laney
The roster for the Beckley Babe Ruth 15-16 year old All-Star team was impressive on paper to say the least.
The only real question was how would the team execute come tournament time.
Saturday afternoon in the best-of-3 state tournament series against Huntington at Harry Lewin Field, the Beckley execution was flawless.
Riding some strong pitching and red-hot bats, Beckley beat its Cabell County guests 10-0 in five innings before sweeping the series with a 14-1 win in game two.
“We had no idea what to expect out of these guys, but we knew coming in we were a pretty talented group of kids,” Beckley manager Donald Barnett said. “I think we have a stable full of arms and a team full of kids that can play the outfield as well as anybody in the area. We have a ton of infielders and 1-through-14 down the lineup we can hit the ball. We were hoping we were in a pretty good spot. Turns out that we were.”
Beckley took a 3-0 lead after two innings with the big blow coming on a two-run homer from Parker Williams.
Two innings later, Beckley slammed the door on game one with a seven-run explosion. Doubles from Sam Barnett, Levi Barnett and Austin Long all produced runs in the outburst.
“We hit the ball up and down the line-up all day long. We know that we are capable of those kinds of innings,” Barnett said. “If we can score two or three runs at a time, I love our chances game in and game out. I hope we can continue to do that.”
Brady Williams pitched four shut-out innings to pick up the win, allowing only three hits and striking out five. Kayden Quesenberry closed out the game by pitching a scoreless fifth to seal the victory.
Game two provided little doubt as to who would win after Beckley plated four runs in each of the first two innings.
When the last out was recorded, Beckley had collected 16 hits and had never been challenged.
Tyler Wilhite, Jackson Gray and Drew Gallaher each had three hits with Gray driving in two runs and Gallaher one.
Brady Williams smacked two doubles plating one run, while Levi Barnett had a double, a single and had two RBI. Justin Williams also had a double and one RBI.
Beckley now advances to the Babe Ruth Ohio Regional which will be played in Eau Claire, WI July 24-28.
“This team is a great opportunity for any coach and I believe that any coach would love to have this whole squad. I am just eager to see what we can do moving forward, Barnett said. “The pedigree with this team is that they are pretty used to winning and we want to keep it going.”
