Nationals, Sox 2008 Babe Ruth Champs

At right, the Braves’ Tyler Roderick delivers a pitch. Photo courtesy Stephanie Zero.

Nationals Beat Braves in Medford Babe Ruth Championships

– Peter Colford, Coach, Braves

The National League Nationals battled the Braves last week in the Medford Babe Ruth Championship at Barry Park, beating the Braves in two games to win the National League title.

On Monday, June 16, the National’s John Lavoie and the Braves’ Jeremy Breen hooked up in an exciting pitchers duel, as the Nationals beat the Braves 3-1 in a hard fought contest in Game 1 of the Finals. Lavoie was outstanding for the Nationals, going seven innings and allowing only two hits while striking out ten batters, while Breen was terrific in a losing cause for the Braves, striking out nine hitters.

On Tuesday, June 17th, Game #2, the Nationals wrapped up the Medford Babe Ruth 13- year-old Division at Barry Park with a thrilling 7-6 win over the Braves in nine innings. The Game was called on Tuesday evening due to darkness with the score knotted at 6-6 after eight innings and play was continued on Friday June 20th at Barry Park. Kevin Foley of the Nationals pitched seven solid innings vs. Jacob Scannell and Tyler Roderick for the Braves. Jeremy Breen was the hitting star in a losing cause for the Nationals, belting a double and a triple good for 4 RBI’s. The Nationals pushed across a run in the top half of the 9th inning to take a 7-6 lead. The Braves managed to load the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning but were not able to plate the tying run.

The Nationals ended their Championship Season with an outstanding 18-1 record, including the playoffs. The Braves finished the year with an 11-10 mark. The Nationals reached the Finals by beating the Cubs in their playoff contest, while the Braves defeated the Dodgers and Mets to reach the Finals.

Players for the Champion Nationals are Mark Fusco, Nick Rocco, John Lavoie, Ryan Clavette, Mike Koury, Kevin Foley, Rob Dunn, Sam Naso, Max Clancy, Brendan Baker, Joe Murano, Nick Rossi, Peter Carbone with Coaches Fran Fusco and Lou Rocco.

Players for the runners-up Braves include Alex Auditore, JJ Lavoie, Jeremy Breen, Jacob Scannell, John Colford, Tyler Roderick, Zach Boudreau, Teddy Ohanesian, Adam Podymaitis, Steve White, Anthony Tortora, Nick Squillante, Jared Zero, Jonathan Ho with Coaches Sahag Ohanesian and Peter Colford.

In other Medford Babe Ruth news, the American League Red Sox beat the Rangers to win the American League Championships. The team, coached by Steve Santoro, compiled an outstanding 15-0 record in the regular season and went 4-1 in the playoffs.

– Allison Goldsberry contributed to this story.