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Tenacity.
That's the one word best describing the Ottumwa, Iowa All Stars.
After starting the tournament with a 4-2 loss to Jackson, Mo., Ottumwa would win six consecutive games with just NINE players on the team to win the 16-18 year old Midwest Babe Ruth Regional Tournament in Wellington Tuesday afternoon.
Ottumwa would beat Lakeville, Minn. 9-7 and 7-5 in the championship games at Hibbs-Hooten Field. As a result, Ottumwa is flying out to Newark, Ohio on Aug. 4-12 to play in the Senior Babe Ruth World Series.
Here were just some of the hurdles Ottumwa had to overcome in this tournament:
•Losing in the first round, and having to go through four losers' bracket games to get to the championship games.
•Losing two players on its original team because they were playing a state championship high school game (in Iowa, high school ball runs through the summer).
•Injuring its 10th player in an early game, who had to be flown home and giving the team no reserves.
•Falling behind 7-0 to Lakeville in game one of the championship game.
•Staving off a rally by Lakeville in the final championship game when the Iowa bats had cooled and the Minnesota bats were red hot.
"I think we are at our best when our backs are against the wall," said Cal Evans, Ottumwa, Iowa Babe Ruth head coach.
No kidding.
Ottumwa's win completed six full days of baseball that included the elimination of seven teams from five states, and two rain delays.
The championship festivities started Tuesday at 10 a.m. with Lakeville, in the winners' bracket. And in the first three-and-a-half innings, the Minnesota team looked well on its way to Ohio, building a 7-0 lead.
Lakeville used three hits to score three runs in both the second and third inning and added one in the fourth.
But then came the stunning bottom half of the fourth, in which Ottumwa, quite simply, seized the game back.
The inning started off with an error. But before it would end, Ottumwa would get nine hits, getting the benefit of two close calls at first and retiring two Lakeville pitchers en route to a nine-run rally.
Going into the fifth inning, the Lakeville players looked like a team that didn't quite know what hit them.
Despite getting two leadoff batters on base with walks in the sixth, Lakeville could not generate any more runs and ended up losing a game in which it once led by seven runs.
By forcing the second game, Ottumwa clearly had the momentum. And it did most of its damage in the top of the first.
Tyler Evans singled on and came home on a Zach Throckmortan double. He would move around to third. Iowa would add two runners on first and second to load the bases.
Then Jackson Salter stepped up to the plate and buried the ball over the left-field wall.
Ottumwa would leave the inning leading 5-0.
The two teams traded runs, and Ottumwa held a comfortable 6-1 lead going into the fourth. But this time it was Lakeville ready to surmount a stunning comeback.
With Lakeville pitcher Bret Piekarski on the mound, Iowa's bats were cooled. Not so much for Minnesota.
Evan Cordell hit a two RBI triple to cut the margin in half 6-3.
Then in the fifth. Ottumwa hurt itself when two players failed to call a pop-up fly and ran into one another. That gave Tony Reme an opportunity to rip off a 2RBI double into left field and narrow the margin to one, 6-5.
But Lakeville would leave both of those runners stranded at third.
Then Lakeville's Sam Meidl led the next inning off with a triple.
But then he got picked off at home on the next's batters' blooper to the shortstop. All told, Lakeville left 10 batters on base for the game.
In the top of the seventh, Ottumwa's Ben Lott, who was the winning pitcher in game two, would stroke a home run, ending what was a scoreless four inning drought for Iowa. At that moment, Ottumwa was just glad to get another run.
But in the bottom of the seventh, the regional champions would retire the next three Lakeville batters and clinch the regional crown.
Game #1: Ottumwa Ia. 9 Lakeville Minn. 7
Lakeville 033 100 0 — 7 10 2
Otttumwa 000 900 x — 9 13 0
WP — Heckenberg.
Game #2: Ottumwa Ia. 7 Lakeville, Minn. 5
Ottumwa 510 000 1 — 7 7 2
Lakeville 100 220 0 — 5 9 0
WP — Lott.
Tenacity.
That's the one word best describing the Ottumwa, Iowa All Stars.
After starting the tournament with a 4-2 loss to Jackson, Mo., Ottumwa would win six consecutive games with just NINE players on the team to win the 16-18 year old Midwest Babe Ruth Regional Tournament in Wellington Tuesday afternoon.
Ottumwa would beat Lakeville, Minn. 9-7 and 7-5 in the championship games at Hibbs-Hooten Field. As a result, Ottumwa is flying out to Newark, Ohio on Aug. 4-12 to play in the Senior Babe Ruth World Series.
Here were just some of the hurdles Ottumwa had to overcome in this tournament:
•Losing in the first round, and having to go through four losers' bracket games to get to the championship games.
•Losing two players on its original team because they were playing a state championship high school game (in Iowa, high school ball runs through the summer).
•Injuring its 10th player in an early game, who had to be flown home and giving the team no reserves.
•Falling behind 7-0 to Lakeville in game one of the championship game.
•Staving off a rally by Lakeville in the final championship game when the Iowa bats had cooled and the Minnesota bats were red hot.
"I think we are at our best when our backs are against the wall," said Cal Evans, Ottumwa, Iowa Babe Ruth head coach.
No kidding.
Ottumwa's win completed six full days of baseball that included the elimination of seven teams from five states, and two rain delays.
The championship festivities started Tuesday at 10 a.m. with Lakeville, in the winners' bracket. And in the first three-and-a-half innings, the Minnesota team looked well on its way to Ohio, building a 7-0 lead.
Lakeville used three hits to score three runs in both the second and third inning and added one in the fourth.
But then came the stunning bottom half of the fourth, in which Ottumwa, quite simply, seized the game back.
The inning started off with an error. But before it would end, Ottumwa would get nine hits, getting the benefit of two close calls at first and retiring two Lakeville pitchers en route to a nine-run rally.
Going into the fifth inning, the Lakeville players looked like a team that didn't quite know what hit them.
Despite getting two leadoff batters on base with walks in the sixth, Lakeville could not generate any more runs and ended up losing a game in which it once led by seven runs.
By forcing the second game, Ottumwa clearly had the momentum. And it did most of its damage in the top of the first.
Tyler Evans singled on and came home on a Zach Throckmortan double. He would move around to third. Iowa would add two runners on first and second to load the bases.
Then Jackson Salter stepped up to the plate and buried the ball over the left-field wall.
Ottumwa would leave the inning leading 5-0.
The two teams traded runs, and Ottumwa held a comfortable 6-1 lead going into the fourth. But this time it was Lakeville ready to surmount a stunning comeback.
With Lakeville pitcher Bret Piekarski on the mound, Iowa's bats were cooled. Not so much for Minnesota.
Evan Cordell hit a two RBI triple to cut the margin in half 6-3.
Then in the fifth. Ottumwa hurt itself when two players failed to call a pop-up fly and ran into one another. That gave Tony Reme an opportunity to rip off a 2RBI double into left field and narrow the margin to one, 6-5.
But Lakeville would leave both of those runners stranded at third.
Then Lakeville's Sam Meidl led the next inning off with a triple.
But then he got picked off at home on the next's batters' blooper to the shortstop. All told, Lakeville left 10 batters on base for the game.
In the top of the seventh, Ottumwa's Ben Lott, who was the winning pitcher in game two, would stroke a home run, ending what was a scoreless four inning drought for Iowa. At that moment, Ottumwa was just glad to get another run.
But in the bottom of the seventh, the regional champions would retire the next three Lakeville batters and clinch the regional crown.
Game #1: Ottumwa Ia. 9 Lakeville Minn. 7
Lakeville 033 100 0 — 7 10 2
Otttumwa 000 900 x — 9 13 0
WP — Heckenberg.
Game #2: Ottumwa Ia. 7 Lakeville, Minn. 5
Ottumwa 510 000 1 — 7 7 2
Lakeville 100 220 0 — 5 9 0
WP — Lott.
