The King George Little League Intermediate Division All-Stars Baseball (13 year old) team competed in the Virginia State Tournament July 2 -6 in Atlee. The Intermediate All Stars team proved to be a very talented and versatile group of ball players, as they routinely changed positions to accommodate pitching, hitting, base running, and other substitutions. King George got outstanding efforts from all of their players during the tournament.
The Intermediate All Stars team members were Tanner Cook, Jasper Gallant, Jake Greenwood, Kaleb Inzana, Owen Price, Matthew Pulliam, Mason Parker, Nathan Robey, Parker Schill, Eli Truslow, and Dawson West. Cooper Sobota was also a team member, but was unavailable to play during the tournament. The team’s coaches were Chris Robey and Eddie Schill, and Jeff Truslow was team manager. Baseball is the ultimate team sport and the King George Intermediate team practiced and played games with a “team first” mentality. They were an amazing group of boys who constantly cheered on the team’s successes and picked each other up when an error or negative at bat took place.
King George won their first four games, all by way of the Little League mercy rule meaning umpires called the game before seven innings were completed. King George’s route to the championship game included a15-4 win over West Springfield, an 11-0 win over Phoebus, and a 16-1 win over Fleet Park during pool play. King George also beat Richmond Little League 11-1in the playoff semifinals game.
On the fifth day of the tournament, King George reached the Virginia State Championship finals against another undefeated team, the equally talented Vienna Little Leage. The championship game consisted of a back and forth battle, with Vienna taking a 4-0 lead early in the 1st inning when Vienna had several good hits and King George made some uncharacteristic mistakes in the field, but King George battled back and led the game 6-4 at the end of the 4th inning. Vienna was able to outscore King George over the last 3 innings and ultimately won the championship game 13-9 designating King George Little League as the State Championship Runners Up.
The King George Little League Intermediate team consisted of a very tight knit group of ball players that routinely play on the weekends for various travel teams. Most of the team members also played on the King George Middle School team this year. Their All Stars journey started in April with the start of the Little League regular season. The King George Little League Board of Directors was able to work out a schedule to allow many of the Little League games to be played on Friday nights to help accommodate the players and coaches’ middle school and travel ball schedules this spring season. Intermediate All Star practices started in early June.
District 15 had no other Intermediate division teams compete at the district level tournament, so King George advanced directly to the State Tournament. The lack of opportunities to compete in the district tournament made the King George team even more eager to prove their ability to compete at the state tournament level of play. The King George boys practiced 16 days in June in preparation for the State tournament, and the attendance level was at or near 100% for all players. The King George Intermediate boys, although ultimately falling one game short of their goal to win the Virginia State Title, certainly showed that they could compete at a very high level every time they played.
During the course of the tournament, the King George team outscored their opponents 62 to 19. Six different players combined to hit 12 home runs (five by one player). Six different pitchers were leveraged, with many boys providing outstanding pitching performances (one no hitter). The team made some incredibly difficult defensive plays, they had one batter hit for a batting average over .850, and King George even had a player go through the entire tournament without ever striking out in 20 at bats.
All of our players had a great experience improving their skills at practices, playing ball and representing King George admirably at the tournament. They also shared many laughs over the last 5 weeks. The boys are already talking about a run at the Virginia Junior State Little League Championship next season!
Jeff Truslow, Intermediate Team Manager
The player’s parents would like to thank the King George Little League organization and especially coaches Jeff Truslow, Chris Robey and Eddie Schill for their tremendous dedication, leadership and support for the boys on the Intermediate All Stars team.
Photo Credit Rhonda Inzana
Photo credit Jill Robey
Photo credit Jill Robey
Photo Credit Rhonda Inzana
Photo Credit Jill Robey