“Baseball was, is and always will be to me the best game in the world.”
Those were the words of George Herman (Babe) Ruth, the greatest baseball player of his era, and yesterday in Branson, Missouri, BBF’s young Lions followed in his footsteps by playing in their first game of this year’s 13-16 World Series named after the legendary slugger and pitcher.
The young Lions team acquitted themselves well up against one of the competition’s strongest teams, but ultimately fell 5-1 to the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Babe Ruth champions from Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, in a spirited game played in blazing sunshine and stifling humidity.
Oliver Galvin took the mound for the BBF Lions, who are playing under the United Kingdom banner at the tournament. Galvin had a strong performance, allowing seven hits and five runs over three innings, with only three earned. Ethan Farabaugh relieved Galvin in the fourth inning and was sharp from the outset. Farabaugh kept Mifflin off the scoresheet the rest of the way.
Mifflin County opened the scoring in the first inning, but the Lions were quick to respond in the top half of the second. Matt Johnson smacked a double to left field, with Jeremy Kirk immediately knocking in the Lions’ only run with a strong line drive to left.
Mifflin took the lead for good in the bottom of the second, scoring two runs. The Lions had a throw-out at home plate overruled following called obstruction on the base pads.
Ted Conway went two-for-three and Owen Wagner recorded a double for the Lions.
Lions head coach Ian Griebenow and his staff knew the game against Mifflin County wouldn’t be easy.
“Mifflin is projected to be top of the group,” said Griebenow, “and walking out with a 5-1 result might not show the true efforts of the work we put in, but we matched them in so many places. And the young guys did really well.
“Credit goes to the starter Ollie Galvin and reliever Ethan Farabaugh, one of the youngest players on our team, who had such a solid outing. Then to the hitters – Jeremy Kirk, Matt Johnson, and Ted Conway. And some outstanding outfield work by Thomas Wheeler, and good defence work by (catcher) Kyle Griebenow.
“But it truly was an all-round team performance. The energy in the dugout was phenomenal, you could see there was a lot of personal pride from the team at all stages, and that showed through.”
The Lions will play their second game of the tournament on Sunday against Colombia, and Griebenow is looking to shore up his team’s defence and get more output from his squad’s hitters.
“In the next game, we need to ensure that we don’t leave as many runners on base – eight runners on base again today,” said Griebenow. “We need to work on ensuring that we have more quality at-bats and be more patient.
Griebenow came away impressed with the team’s performance in what was the group’s first competitive game together.
“They are so versatile in adapting to their new environments, and just getting on with it,” said Griebenow. “We’ve got 18 kids and it seems like they’ve been playing together for six years, but they’ve just come together within a short period speed of time. So, hats off to them, and to their families for raising these kind of athletes.”
Following Sunday’s encounter with Colombia, the Lions’ final two pool games will see them play San Carlos, the Babe Ruth U.S. Southeast regional champions, on Monday and Native Nations on Tuesday.
The tournament runs until August 16 and brings together champions from across the United States and around the globe for one of youth baseball’s most prestigious events. This year carries extra significance, as the World Series forms part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Babe Ruth League.