In the last 20 years, there have been a number of Babe Ruth baseball programs that have seen a particular age group go through and win state championships.
This year’s Lynn 15-year-old All-Star team hopes to join a long list of successful squads from this area. They open play Friday at Keene State College in New Hampshire in the New England Regionals against Vermont.
Lynn, Saugus, and Peabody have seen postseason success either in this century or late in the last one. Saugus’ World Series team of 2003 went through the state and New England tournaments. And it happened much earlier than that, in the 1990s when Peabody had Jeff Allison pitching. In fact, the Peabody 14s actually won the World Series, led by Allison.
But Lynn has done it four times since 1989, when the 13s, managed by Gene Tetreault, won it all. The 13s were at it again in 1996 when Rich Cahill’s team won the state championship and played in the New England regionals in Burlington, Vt.
Only four years later, in 2000, a Lynn firefighter named Leon Elwell managed the 14-year-old All-Stars to a state title and a spot in the New England Regionals in Manchester, N.H.
Six years after that, in 2006, another group of 14s broke through and played in the New Englands in Windsor, Conn.
But it was Elwell, and the 2015 15s, who finally broke the glass ceiling for Lynn. That team, led by a slew of “old 15s,” — players who, because of their birthdays, had two years of high school varsity experience — swept through the districts, sectionals and states to get to the New Englands, which Lynn hosted at Fraser Field.
Lynn’s 15s were just as lethal in that tournament, buzzing through it until they defeated North Providence/Smithfield to make the World Series in Williston, N.D. The team did not win, but players such as Christian Burt, Brett Bucklin, James Wilkins, Anthony Nikolakakis, Dave Barnard and others went on to have successful high school careers.
Only two years later, in 2018, Elwell took the same group of players to the Senior Babe Ruth World Series in New York.
Elwell is managing this 15-year-old team, with help from Rich Avery, who is the site coordinator for Fraser and Manning Fields. They have constructed a team long on pitching and defense with enough pop in their bats to contend for most of the games they play.
“Obviously,” said president Jeff Earp, “You have to have a deep talent pool. And that means going out and getting the players. You can’t wait for them to come to you. You have to identify them, and stay on them.”
“And,” he said, “You have to get the players to buy into what you’re trying to do.”
While the players prepare to play, the parents and league administrators continue to raise funds to help defray the cost of sending the players to New Hampshire. It’s going well, said Earp, “but we’re not there yet. We still have to go out and raise more money (Wednesday).”
The tournament was supposed to be held at Fraser FIeld, but Babe Ruth switched locations to Keene State College without offering any explanation, Earp said.
