SPRINGFIELD BABE RUTH 1997 Tournament Teams 14 Year-Old Majors. Springfield's 14 YO Majors All-Star team successfully captured the District VI Championship and finished the 2nd season as Runner-Up Virginia State Champions. SPRINGFIELD's 14 YO ALL-STARS. Left to right kneeling - Greg O’Neill, Jon Boyer, Steve Croce, Pack Landfair, and Ron O’Neill (Coach). 2nd Row - Bill Delmore (Mgr.), Chris Wingfield, Brian Fraser, Dane Button, Pat Delaney, Matt Serth, and Duane Layton (Coach). Back Row - Jim Freund, Robbi Wilkinson, Brian McLain, Flip Tomaselli, Kevin Robertson, and Alex Layton District VI Tournament. Springfield opened District VI tournament play with a 6-0 shutout of a strong Fairfax East team behind the formidable pitching of Jim Freund and Dane Button who combined for a two hitter. Offensively, Springfield unleashed a 12 hit attack led by Robbi Wilkinson, Pat Delaney, and Alex Layton who had two hits apiece. Springfield then cruised to a 13-3 victory over Fairfax East as Jon Boyer, Jim Freund and Pat Delaney each collected two hits. Alex Layton and Steve Croce scattered 6 hits in a combined effort to tame the Fairfax East bats. Springfield's strong pitching continued as Matt Serth and Flip Tomaselli combined for a one-hitter as Springfield defeated a tough Falls Church / Annandale team 6-2 that held Springfield to four hits. The tournament finale pitted Springfield against Fairfax East who had emerged from the Loser's Bracket. Dane Button, Jim Freund, and Flip Tomaselli handled the pitching chores while Springfield’s hitters produced a 15 hit assault that rendered a 15-5 victory and the District VI Championship. Brian McLain, Robbi Wilkinson, Brian Fraser, and Jim Freund led the way with their bats getting two hits apiece. Kevin Robertson, Greg O'Neill, and Steve Croce each had timely, RBI producing hits. Virginia State Championship. Springfield moved on to the Va. State Championship tournament in Manassas. Jim Freund, who was yet to give up any runs in tournament play, received the assignment against a talented Varina team. Brian McLain hammered out three hits to lead the offense as Springfield passed its initial test with a double comeback, 9-7 victory. Jim Freund struck out 6 and gave up one earned run over 5 complete innings. Flip Tomaselli provided a strong relief effort over the last 1 2/3 innings to preserve the victory. Springfield next played Vienna. Alex Layton drew the assignment and pitched 5 strong innings for the victory. Greg O'Neill, getting his first pitching assignment due to a regular season related injury, was masterful in relief. Greg went the final 1 and 2/3 innings retiring Vienna in order for a 7-4 Springfield victory. Springfield touched Vienna pitching for 12 hits as lefties Pat Delaney and Steve Croce had 3 hits apiece. Springfield's next opponent was the defending State Champion - Faquier County. Many of the team had faced Faquier in last year's Prep State Championship Tournament and knew they would the team to beat. Matt Serth, responding to the challenge, turned in a complete game, 3 hitter allowing a single earned run while striking out 8. Faquier's pitching was also equal to the task as it gave up a combined 5 hits while striking out 10 Springfield batters. Each time Springfield threatened to break the game open, Faquier would make a play. Springfield stranded 9 runners as Faquier prevailed in a tight contest 4-3. Playing in the Loser's Bracket for the first time, Springfield squared off against Vienna again. Greg O'Neill took command of the game tossing a crafty 1 hitter through four innings. Flip Tomaselli finished up in relief as Springfield responded from the Faquier defeat with a rousing 17 hit attack that produced a 15-3 victory. Steve Croce had three hits while Pat Delaney, Jon Boyer, Brian Fraser, and Pack Landfair each added two hits. The victory set up a potential double-header against Faquier for the State Championship. Game 1 of the championship series saw Jimmy Freund at his best. Jim gave up one earned run, struck out 7, and scattered 4 hits as Springfield pounded out an 11 hit, 8 - 2 victory. Brian McLain led all hitters with a 3-3 effort and Jon Boyer had a lead-off double to score a run and knocked in two others with a single. Alex Layton drew the start of Game 2 which turned out to be wild, see-saw affair. Springfield's team speed was evident as the team manufactured two runs in the 1st and one in the 2nd. Faquier countered with two runs of their own making it 3-2 after two innings. Springfield added four more in the 3rd only to see Faquier respond with three more in the bottom half making the score 7-5. Springfield added one in the top of the 4th to take an 8-5 lead while Faquier responded with three more runs in their half to knot the game at 8-8 through four innings. Flip Tomaselli came on in relief to record the final K in the fourth with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Springfield got another in the 5th to go back on top but left the bases loaded after threatening to blow the game open once again. Matt Serth came on after a lead-off walk and quickly recorded two outs. Faquier then put together a two out rally which saw three runs cross the plate to take an 11-9 advantage. Springfield put runners on in the 6th and 7th but left them stranded as Faquier gamely prevailed and defended their State Championship title. Recognition. A special thanks and recognition to all of the players on this team. They played courageously and skillfully throughout the tournament season. Robbi Wilkinson (.591) and Brian McLain (.565) led all hitters with 13 while Pat Delaney and Jim Freund had 12 and 11 respectively. Wilkinson’s OBA was a phenominal .735 and McLain’s 4 doubles and 4 triples netted the Slugging Pct. leadership with 1.087. Jim Freund led all pitchers going 4-0 with a tournament ERA of 0.94. On defense, the outfielders in particular (Fraser, Boyer, Croce, Robertson, and Landfair) earned their stars in game after game. The Manassas playing field was rock hard clay where a sharply hit ground ball through the infield could roll to the fence. Added to this pressure was the 20+ knot winds that made fly balls interesting in game after game for all teams. A very special thanks to Ron O'Neill (the "Golden Fungo") and Duane Layton (Pitching) who helped prepare and coach this team. I would also note the contributions and superb efforts of Jim Button, who was assisted by Kyle Croce. Jim operated as the team General Manager and handled all of the countless administrative details associated with running an All-Star team. A warm note of appreciation also goes to (the Reverend) Stan Landfair for his pre-game pep talks as well as Michael Groll and Terry Boyer. Mike's videos and expert commentary made the winter shorter, and he and Terry hosted a great team party. Finally, a personal thank you goes to Bruce Freund for his help and support throughout the campaign. Bill Delmore Other SBRL Information: Home E-mail: bdelmore@iteq.com Created 10 March 1998, Last Updated 28 March 1998