Beckley Babe Ruth takes mental toughness to World Series

Aug. 2—It was the bottom of the fifth inning of the Ohio Valley Region championship, and Beckley Babe Ruth League's 14 year olds were down 2-0. It was the first time they trailed in the entire tournament.

In fact, the two runs scored by Plover-Whiting (Wis.) were twice the amount Beckley pitching had surrendered in its previous four games combined.

A dominant run to that point could have unraveled at the worst possible time, but coach Jamie Wilhite was not concerned.

"It could have been (bad)," Wilhite said. "We had some tough-minded guys in the dugout who kept them together. Because, look, there's always going to be some chatter and some negative thoughts. But 2-0 — that's a bloop and a gapper, right? Or a passed ball."

Wilhite certainly did his part as the coach to keep the players from getting down, but it turned out he also had some help.

"I wasn't worried about it," Wilhite said. "There may have been some players in the dugout who were worried about it, but I heard some nice positive chatter in there from Brayden Keith and Justin Williams and Jacob Claypool."

Their teammates heard the encouragement, too. And they responded, shaking off the late deficit to score a run in the fifth and three more in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead.

In the top of the seventh, starter Tyler Wilhite got the first two batters out before having to leave the game after surrendering a hit on his 95th pitch. Degan Williams relieved and, after giving up a walk, got the next batter to hit into a fielder's choice for the save and, more importantly, the Ohio Valley championship.

And on Wednesday, Beckley will leave for Stafford, Va., to make history as the first Beckley team to ever play in the Babe Ruth League World Series.

The only team from West Virginia to win a Babe Ruth World Series championship was Huntington, which won the 13-15 title in 1960 in St. Paul, Minn.

"Honestly it's a great experience, not only for the boys, for the players, but for the City of Beckley and for Beckley Babe Ruth," Wilhite said. "The boys have put so much hard work into baseball and into practice and into playing. For them to finally break through, something that's never been done, I don't know that they realize what they've accomplished. But they will."

And the community has gotten behind the team, contributing financially to fund what will be at least a seven-day stay. On Tuesday, Raleigh County Commission President Dave Tolliver said the county agreed to donate $4,000 to Beckley Babe Ruth to make up the difference for the funds necessary to send the team to the World Series.

Tolliver said the funds will come from the county's coal severance tax fund.

"It's a great honor," Tolliver said. " ... People all over the world, because it will be televised all over the world, will see that we have a team from Beckley, West Virginia. It's a great experience for these kids and we're tickled to death that they're going."

Opening ceremonies are set for Friday, then pool play will run Saturday through Wednesday, Aug. 9. Single elimination bracket play will start the next day. The world champion will be crowned on Aug. 12.

And it will be a true World Series — three of the 14 teams are international.

Joining Beckley and the host Stafford Warriors will be Trumbull, Conn. (Northeast Region champion), Eagle Pass, Texas (Southwest Region champion), Moorhead, Minn. (Midwest Plains Region champion), Sedro Woolley, Wash. (Pacific Northwest Region champion), Orcutt, Calif. (Pacific Southwest Region champion), Broomall, Pa. (Middle Atlantic Region qualifier), Tallahassee, Fla. (Southeast Region champion), Arlington, Va. (Virginia state champion), Franklin, N.J. (Middle Atlantic Region champion), Aruba, Australia and Mexico.

Beckley's first game will be Sunday at 3:30 p.m. against Connecticut. That will be followed by Stafford (Monday, 6 p.m.), Washington (Tuesday, 3:30 p.m.) and Australia (Wednesday, Aug. 9, 3:30 p.m.).

All games will be live streamed at jockjive.com with a tournament pass for $30.

Beckley flexed its muscles both offensively and on the mound at the Ohio Valley Region. Over 27 innings, the deep staff of Tyler Wilhite, Degan Williams, Brady Williams, Justin Williams, Drew Gallaher and Gage Price combined to allow 10 hits (including two combined no-hitters and a one-hitter) while striking out 27 batters to 15 walks. All three runs allowed were unearned.

Beckley also got it done at the plate, combining for 55 runs and 44 hits. Brady Williams, Austin Long and Justin Williams all hit .500 or better. Long drove in 10 runs and stole seven bases. Wilhite scored seven times and had five stolen bases.