Area ballplayers hoping for Babe Ruth title

July 17, 2007 - Posted at 12:00 a.m.

BY MIKE FORMAN - ADVOCATE SPORTS WRITER

The Tri-County All-Stars will continue one tradition and hope to resume another at the Babe Ruth League 16-18-year-old Southwest Regional baseball tournament.

The Tri-County team will extend a string of regional appearances that dates back to 1997 and will seek to clinch its first World Series berth since 2004 when it travels to Denham Springs, La., to open play in the double-elimination tournament on Friday.

"We've got some good local talent," Tri-County manager Mark Migl said. "We've got guys who want to play ball."

The Tri-County team is made up of players from Yoakum, Hallettsville, Weimar, Schulenburg, Flatonia, La Grange, Columbus and Bellville and will represent South Texas. The East Texas team will be from Wharton County.

Tri-County advanced to the regional tournament by sweeping Del Rio at the South Texas State Tournament, which was held over the weekend at Veterans Memorial Park Strickland Field in Weimar.

Weimar's Chance Kansteiner and Columbus' Barrett Richter combined on a three-hitter to lead Tri-County to a 1-0 win in the first game against Del Rio. Kansteiner had seven strikeouts in six innings to pick up the win. Kansteiner also doubled in the bottom of the fifth inning and pinch runner Eric Schrader of Schulenburg scored from second on an infield single by Bellville's Brent Price.

Weimar's Drew Quinney pitched a complete game with seven strikeouts and Tri-County had 11 hits while rolling to an 8-3 victory in the series clincher. Weimar's Jason Laake went 3-for-4 with a triple and five RBIs, Weimar's Errol Jones went 2-for-3 with a triple and a double, and La Grange's Ryan McCrary and Kansteiner each added two hits for Tri-County.

Laake also teamed with Bellville's Jonathan Porter to help turn two double plays.

"The No. 1 thing that stands out about this team is probably defense," Migl said. "The second thing is probably our pitching. We're not real strong in putting together a lot of runs and hits. Defense and pitching is the name of our game. We've got a scrappy bunch. We play a lot of small ball. But we do have a few guys with a lot of pop in their bats."

Tri-County plays the opening game of the tournament on Friday at 10 a.m. against the Miss-Lou All-Stars, which includes players from Vidalia, La., and Natchez, Miss., which are located across the Mississippi River from each other. Wharton will play North West Arkansas at 1 p.m.

The tournament winner will advance to the Babe Ruth World Series in Newark, Ohio. Tri-County advanced to the World Series in Newark in 2004 after hosting and finishing third at the World Series in Weimar in 2003. Tri-County won the championship at the 2002 World Series in Stamford, Conn.

Migl is happy about playing in Denham Springs and is upbeat about his team's chances.

"We made our first trip to the World Series when I had (Flatonia native and Schulenburg Bishop Forest graduate) Joe Mikulik in 1982 and it was in Denham Springs," Migl said. "I'm also sort of comparing this team to the 2004 squad that made it to the World Series in Ohio. The best thing about this team is nobody tries to outshine anybody or thinks they're better than anybody. We have all the same kind of kids and they all get along. This group is all even keel."

NOTES: The other teams at the regional tournament are the West Texas representative from Yoakum County; Lonake, Ark.; Helena, Miss.; and the host team from Denham Springs.

Mike Forman is a sports writer for the Victoria Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6588 or mforman@vicad.com.