Tri-Valley Babe Ruth Team Headed to Babe Ruth World Series

ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA —For the second year in a row, a group of Tri-Valley teenagers have made the Babe Ruth World Series. Last year, as 13-year-olds, the team made it to Jamestown, New York and came home with the winner's trophy. This year, eleven of the same players, and three new players, will travel to Westfield, Massachusetts to defend their title in the 14-year-old World Series.

The tenacious group of ball players has not lost a game this summer. They prepare everyday (only six days off all summer) with three things in mind: vision, confidence, and execution while wearing practice jerseys that read Mission 2 Massachusetts, as their goal from day one was to get back to the World Series. Mission Accomplished.

Tri-Valley opened the summer by beating Palo Alto, 7-0, in the finals of the Northern California state tournament in Woodland. Next, they traveled to Murray, Utah for the Pacific Southwest Regional tournament where they played and beat four tough teams from different parts of the region.

In the opener, they beat the Oahu Sluggers, from Hawaii, 8-5. Game two was an 8-0 victory over Reedley from Fresno. Game 3 was an epic, 2-1 come from behind, walk-off win over Westchester from Southern California. Finally, in the championship game, Tri-Valley put away a strong opponent, the Hamilton Huskies from Chandler, Arizona, with a 9-5 victory.

Jaden Sheppard was named the tournament's most valuable pitcher. Tommy Gavello earned the tournament's highest honor as most valuable player.

This year's roster is made up of nine boys from Pleasanton, four from Danville, and one from San Ramon. All fourteen boys have contributed significantly to the team's success. The roster includes boys from five East Bay Athletic League high schools.

• Amador Valley players include: Demetre Aaron (OF/P), Joey Battilega (OF/P), Trevor Jackson (Util), Troy Nassar (P), Luke Palfalvi (Util), and Jaden Sheppard (P/1B/OF).
• Foothill players include: Josh Anderson (P/1B), Max Masajlo (P/OF), and Cory Steinhauer (C/Util).
• San Ramon Valley players include: Evan Chevalier (P/1B), Jack Grant (SS) and Michael O'Hara (OF/Util).
• Monte Vista player is Tommy Gavello (2B). The Cal High player is Asher Golden (3B/P).
• Coaching staff:: David Grant (Manager), Tony Battilega (AVHS Coach), Michael O'Hara (Advanced Scout) and Mark Palfalvi (Game Changer admin).

Tri-Valley will travel on Aug 9, enjoy the parade and local festivities on Aug 10, and then start playing games on August 11. The format consists of five consecutive days in pool play against other regional winners. Then, the top three teams from each group will advance to a single-elimination bracket, with the championship game scheduled for Thursday night, August 18.

To get World Series updates, visit www.westfieldworldseries.org or watch the games in real time live with the free Game Changer app. Team name: Tri-Valley Babe Ruth 14 yr. all-stars.

Announcement, photo submitted by Tri-Valley Babe Ruth