13U team won Cap Ripken tournament in Myrtle Beach, anticipates long run at state tournament
The Washington Township 13U Minutemen travel baseball team walked away as the victor of the Cal Ripken tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C., that ran from June 24 to 29.
Head coach Dave Koerner described what makes this particular team unique.
“Our team is unique as all the boys are from the same town,” he said. “All other teams we play are essentially All-Star teams made up of boys from anywhere they can recruit them from.”
The 13U Minutemen team has a regular season comprised of 20 local games and four tournaments, and it culminates in the state playoffs.
Last year, the team found success in a Cal Ripken tournament in Maryland, which gave Koerner inspiration to take it to another level this year.
“We made it to the finals last year,” he said. “This year, we decided to go one step further and enter the Ripken Myrtle Beach tournament in South Carolina.”
The trip to South Carolina was a family affair for the baseball team.
“We had all the boys and their families stay in a large 12-bedroom house on the beach,” Koerner said. “The boys all crashed on the couches after playing pool, ping pong and Xbox at night. Our biggest issue was how to balance their wanting to stay up all night and enforcing a curfew for those 8 a.m. games.”
The group enjoyed the time in South Carolina; they visited the beach, water parks and went Grand Prix go-kart racing, along with other activities along the boardwalk.
As far as the tournament goes, the team played nine games over a five-day period, including one game against Florida, one against Michigan, one from Indiana, two against teams from Georgia, two from Illinois and two from Ohio.
“The boys certainly had a flair for the dramatic,” Koerner said. “In the semi-final win against Illinois, they scored five runs in the final inning for the win. In the championship game against Ohio, the Minutemen rallied for eight runs in the final inning to win 9–8.”
Koerner said the team is a pleasure to coach and the boys get along well.
“They go to school together, they’re friends on and off the field,” he said.
He added most of them have been playing together since they were 8 years old and are seen together off the field at their school functions and social events.
“My assistant coaches, Andy Martin, Ed Bonsall and Greg Bianchi, and I are thankful for the parents’ support and letting their sons play for our team.” Koerner said. “We think we’ve prepared them as best we can for high school baseball.”
The next step for the 13U Minutemen team is the state tournament in Somers Point from July 12 to 19.
“We’re starting to get healthy at the right time and anticipate making a run at the state level,” Koerner said.
