STATE CHAMPS
Elkins 14-year-old All-Stars earn title
ELKINS — The Elkins Elks Babe Ruth League’s 14-year-old All-Star team won the state title Saturday, going undefeated as the home team for the state championship tournament at Robin Harvey Memorial Field at Bluegrass Park.
“I’m very proud of the boys for this accomplishment. They have worked really hard in practice, and it paid off with our hitting and fielding during the state tournament,” Manager Dave Hamrick said after the historic win.
Elkins completed its 3-0 run through the tournament by handily defeating Huntington Southeastern, 7-0, on Saturday afternoon.
Will Knight earned the win on the mound for Elkins, while Gage Bibey came in to pick up the save. Knight and Bibey combined to throw a one-hit shutout against the Huntington squad. The two pitchers racked up a combined 11 strikeouts in the dominating performance.
At the plate for Elkins, Corey Reed had 2 hits and a walk, with 2 RBIs and a run scored.
Both Knight and Alex Wilson had 1 hit and a walk and scored 2 runs a piece for Elkins.
The losing pitcher for Huntington was Corey Sweeney.
Elkins will now move on to the Ohio Valley Regional Tournament in Mattoon, Illinois, set for July 26-30.
This is the second straight state championship for this group of Elkins players. As the 13-year-old All Stars, they claimed the state title last year.
“This was an awesome tournament,” Elkins Elks Babe Ruth League President Brad Schumacher said. “The weather held off enough for us to get all the games in this week. And the weather today (Saturday) was beautiful. We had a great turnout for the games all week.”
The Elkins 14-year-old All-Star team includes players Nick Hamrick, Dustyn Primavero, Ethan Kirk, Gage Bibey, Austyn Fletcher, Austin Bolyard, Alex Wilson, Dakota Stuart, Bobby Henline, Tanner Corder, Will Knight, Devan Lamarne and Cory Reed, with Manager Dave Hamrick, coaches Brian Bibey and Randy Corder, and scorekeeper Billy Knight.
“I couldn’t ask for a better group of young men to take to the Ohio Valley Regional to represent our home state of West Virginia,” Hamrick said.
Last month, both the 15-year-old and 13-year-old Elkins All-Star teams claimed the state runner-up position in the state tournaments for those age groups, which took place in Huntington.
The Elkins 13-year-old All-Star squad includes players Jacob Bender, David White, Evan Humphrey, Jesiah Matlick, Nicholas Barrickman, Tyler Ludwig, Cody Cooper, Jaydon Herron, Gauge Manolidis, Hunter Dudley, Jonathan Elmore and Brandon Rossi, along with manager Chris Broughton, coaches Jeff Manolidis and Jamie Shifflett, and scorekeeper Craig Bender.
The Elkins 15-year-old All-Stars include players Trent Tallman, James Smoak, Remington Stanley, Nathan Cooper, David Freeman, Justin White, Gabe Guire, Garrett Silvester, William Waldern and Anthony Jones, with Manager Kent Freeman, coaches Justin Stanley and LJ Tallman, and scorekeeper Ashley Smoak.
• Inter-Mountain staff writer Angelea Goodwin contributed to this story.