July 23, 1999

Babe Ruth Tournament comes to Tiffin

By Ed Fox
Sports Writer

Some of the best baseball teams in the state will be invading Tiffin when the Ohio State Babe Ruth Baseball Tournament for 13-year-olds begins Saturday morning at Ralph Travis Field at the corner of Second and Shawhan Avenues.

Tiffin, the host for the eight-team event, will take on Cincinnati Hamilton at 9 a.m. Saturday following pregame activities which will include City Administrator Wayne Stephens throwing out the first pitch of the tournament which will begin a half hour earlier.

"It's just quite an honor for these kids and the city of Tiffin to be part of an event like this," said team manager Clint Wheeler. "I know the kids are really excited and pumped up for it, because all the other teams are coming from major cities within the state."

There will be four games played Saturday, Sunday and Monday in the double-elimination tournament with two more games on Tuesday and another, if needed, at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Following the Tiffin-Cincinnati Hamilton game, Zanesville will take on Springfield at noon Saturday with Steubenville and Columbus locking up at 3 p.m. and Youngstown and Cincinnati St. Bernard will close out the first day with a 6 p.m. contest.

Sunday's action will begin with a pair of losers bracket games at 9 a.m. and noon with the winners bracket semifinals at 3 and 6 p.m. Three losers bracket games will be played Monday before the winners bracket final at 6 p.m. The losers bracket final will be played at 1 p.m. Tuesday with the championship at 6 p.m. If the winners bracket final winner loses, a second championship game would be needed at 6 p.m. Wednesday to determine who advances to the regional tournament in Indiana.

Wheeler is team manager for the Tiffin squad with Mark Sexton serving as coach.

The team members include Dave Meisner, Dan Reamer, Brian Hitchcock, John Elchert, Chris Sexton, Justin Baker, Todd Miller, Brad Clinger, Matt Lewis, John Distel, Zack Ball, Danny Jordan, Brian Saylor, Tyler Clinger and Rob Craun.

"The kids represent five teams which played in the 13-14 age league around here. Five of them are from the VFW team which I coached and it won the league championship with a 13-3 record.

"Meisner will be the starting pitcher and he was a member of the VFW team."

Three other VFW players will be in the starting lineup with Reamer at third base, Elchert at shortstop and Sexton in centerfield. Hitchcock will sub in the outfield.

There are four players from the Eagles team with Miller earning the start as the catcher, Distel will be in right field, Ball will be at second base and Jordan will sub in the outfield.

Paper & Ink has a pair of players on the team with Baker starting in left field and Craun being a relief pitcher.

Potter's will have Brad Clinger starting at first base with Lewis being the backup catcher while Saylor and Tyler Clinger will represent Minute Print and sub at catcher and the infield respectively.

"Since many of the kids have not played together, we've worked a lot on our defense and team harmony. Pitching will be a concern because of the number of possible games to be played in just a few days. We've got two very good starting pitchers and two good relief pitchers. Many of the players in this group have played on a traveling team and they have a lot of experience against the caliber of teams they will be facing this weekend.

"This is just a great experience for me as a first-year coach. Tiffin hasn't hosted an event like this in many years and it's quite an honor to be part of it. I played Babe Ruth ball several years ago, but never had the opportunity to play in an event like this," said the 35-year-old Wheeler.

There will be a $2 admission charge for the tournament.