Article from the Loudoun-Times Mirror

The Tri-Valley Babe Ruth All-Star 14′s departed as a team early Thursday morning with Coaches Ron Anderson and Mike Vincent, from SFO. After transferring to a roomier plane in Los Angeles coupled with a 2-hour mechanical delay, the boys finally arrived late Thursday night, landing at Washington-Dulles International. The boys were met by local league representatives and bussed to the local high school to meet the host families.

I finally arrived today (Saturday morning) after catching the red-eye from Oakland at Friday midnight and flying non-stop to Dulles. It was a quiet and uneventful flight, but left the Dronkers, Steve Nathan, the Jacksons and the Santos families bleary eyed and groggy. To all the drivers on Route 15 and Route 7 – we apologize for any weaving or erratic driving this morning! Since we landed in DC, it was only appropriate that our flight had a special mission to accomplish; Ron Anderson called home and put out a request for a California State flag which was required for opening ceremonies at 9 a.m. Saturday. Jeff Santos ran down to Dom’s Sporting Goods in Livermore and purchased the very last one. Since our flight ate up 45 minutes past schedule departure, Jeff, Christina and Steve had only minutes to spare getting the flag to the boys in time for their 9 a.m. procession.

Virginia is unbelievably green and lush. Sure, the humidity is a little high, but the rolling green pastures, giant Colonial homes and thick stands of pine trees
are stunning. I can’t wait to see the sights of this historic area. We are hoteled in Leesburg, about midway between the stadium in Purcellville and Washington, DC (30 minutes opposite of each other). Tonight we took a short drive to Round Hill to attend a barbeque dinner with the team, coaches and the host families at Pete and Michelle Falli’s home (Jake’s, Ryan’s and Cameron’s host family). Burgers, brats, dogs, salads, watermelon, chili, pie and lots of ice cold drinks – a great event to start the tournament off, especially since we missed the Welcome Banquet Friday night.

Tomorrow we play our first game of pool play against the Mid-Atlantic Regional champion from Williamsport, PA – home of the Little League World Series, at 11 a.m. EST. The weather is forecast to be slightly cooler with a chance of showers – mid-80′s with humidty of course. I will not be webcasting the game as a professional company will be there to do this job. Unfortunately they charge for their services – $15 unlimited viewing of each and every game of the tournament. I will be filming however for the end of season video and will write-up the play-by-play.

To subscribe to the webcast, go to:

http://baberuthtv.youthsportslive.com/

To read about the standings of all games, go to:

http://baberuthonline.com/home/worldseries/world_br14.asp

Advertisement