It’s on to North Carolina for the Oxford 12-year-old Babe Ruth team.
Oxford qualified for the Cal Ripkin World Series, which starts Aug. 12, with a 4-2 victory over Burlington, Mass. on Thursday in the New England Regional Championship at Harrison, Maine.
“It was unbelievable,” Oxford manager Greg Batkis said. “When you get there, the hype is the other teams are unbelievable, but once we got there, we realized we are very good team and we can play with anyone. We have the best defense in the tournament and pitching and defense are the keys to winning.”
Righty Dale Keller pitched six innings and gave up two earned runs on three hits for Oxford and was the winning pitcher. Keller also helped Oxford with his bat with two hits and two RBI, including a double. Sam Cherney hit a home run for Oxford in the top of the sixth and Adam Batkis (manager’s son) led off the game with a triple and scored on a wild pitch. Jimmy Stewart also had two hits for Oxford.
Oxford compiled a 22-3 record during the All-Star part of the season, 4-0 in the state tournament and 4-1 in the New England Regional tournament, which was double-elimination tourney.
Keller, Batkis and Cherney led Oxford at the plate this year, all three hitting around .450. Stewart isn’t far behind at .400. Righties Matt Morselli, Alex Rushworth and Keller are Oxford’s top three pitchers. The team is looking forward to going to North Carolina and has high expectations for its southern journey.
“I have no clue on what I expect the result to be,” Greg Batkis said. “I expect us to play solid like we had all season.”
Photo caption: from left: (front) Alex Rushworth, Tim Stordy, Cole Chudoba, Sam Cherney, Justin Pavlik, Gunnar Fay, Owen Diaz (back) Coach Darren Pavlik, Coach Bob Sutay, Preston Shortell, Dale Keller, Adam Baktis, Jeff Sutay, Manager Greg Baktis, Coach Brian Shortell. Player Matt Morelli is not pictured.
FYI: Two pics there ’cause we’re trying to figure something out.
Nice Job Oxford Babe Ruth… The event and ceremony at Quazzy was excellent!! The Board of Directors should be commended for putting together a wonderful season – their efforts put Oxford CT on the map in places from Maine to N.C. The Oxford residents should be very proud of what has been achieved so far. Oh, and the boys deserve some credit too 🙂
Great Job, Oxford 12 YR Old All-Stars! Oh by the way – Jimmy Stewart does not play for Oxford – The player’s name is actually Timmy Stordi. This team needs the town’s support. They could be World Series Champs in a couple of weeks and nobody is recognizing their outstanding achievements except this online paper.