LYNN — What a summer it was for the Greater Lynn Babe Ruth 15-year-olds. The young men were outstanding throughout the season, taking home the state and New England regional championships all the way to a 2022 Babe Ruth World Series appearance in Virginia.
For two and a half months, the boys from Lynn played their hearts out and did so unbelievably well. With its pitching, defense, and timely offense Lynn took down Parkway (West Roxbury) in the state final and defeated Three Corners (VT) in the regional final to reign supreme over New England.
Being crowned the champs of New England sent the Greater Lynn 2022 Babe Ruth team down to Virginia for the Babe Ruth World Series. The boys continued to show out in Virginia, where they won three of their five games and finished as one of the top six teams in the nation.
Lynn held their own against the top teams in the nation, falling three wins short of a World Series title.
“It was an incredible run – they bought into everything [Manager] Leon [Elwell] was preaching, and that directly equated to how far they got,” said Lynn Babe Ruth President Jeff Earp.
“In the end, it did not finish the way we wanted, but in retrospect – I cannot be more proud. I have been doing this a long time – I am so proud of this group personally and what they did and when they did it, and the way they carried themselves. The City of Lynn should be incredibly proud of these kids,” added Earp.
Elwell echoed Earp’s sentiment about how proud he was of his team in his postgame comments following Lynn’s final game against Rapid City, South Dakota.
“I told them I love them, and I respect and appreciate the efforts they put in, and hopefully, all the lessons they learned along the way are life lessons they need to survive in the world,” said Elwell.
Elwell also explained that the experience the kids had this summer will be special for a long time.
“This is something that no one can ever take away from them – the memories they will have from this experience, the camaraderie that they built. When their sons and daughters are 13 and 14 years old, they can say, look, I went to a World Series a long time ago – that is something they will always have,” said Elwell.
Earp also mentioned the incredible support from the families that made it down to Virginia, helping make the run even more special. The fan support there was so unbelievable that the play-by-play announcers mentioned it several times during the broadcasts of the team’s games.
“Everybody had a shirt – it was tremendous, it was truly special,” said Earp.
While the support from families down at the World Series was outstanding, the support from the community to get the team down to Virginia was incredible. People came out in droves to support the team with donations.
“What our community did to take care of this team and getting them there is awe-inspiring. I have done this at Wyoma Little League two or three times, I have done it in Pop Warner raising money, and this effort surpassed all of those,” said Earp.
He also made it a point to thank all the parents, especially the mothers, for helping with all the fundraising, not only to get the team to Virginia but also to Keene, N.H., for regionals.
“They dedicated all of their time to making sure that the families did not have a huge financial burden,” said Earp.
The summer of success Lynn’s 15s had this year is something Earp hopes will draw younger kids to the sport of baseball and make them want to get a taste of a World Series.
“For those young kids to be able to see reality in front of them – ‘I can do this, we can do this if we play together and work hard, we can go achieve this,’ – these kids just proved it,” said Earp.
The community’s involvement in what this team accomplished was not lost on Earp. He mentioned the outpouring of support from people in and out of baseball who came out to restaurants and bars to watch the games.
“I could not be more proud to be president of this league – they are such a great group of kids,” said Earp.
Although Lynn’s summer run may not have ended in a World Series Championship, they will be remembered for years in Lynn’s sports history thanks to their magical run.
Michael Coughlin Jr. can be reached at [email protected]
