Pine Forge gets a warm welcome
Pine Forge earns warm welcome back after 3rd-place finish at Senior Babe Ruth World Series
As the Pine Forge bus neared home on its return trip from the airport, Indians’ assistant Andy Duffy grabbed the attention of pitcher Nate Kline, who had his phone playing music through the vehicle’s speakers.
“Nate, put on ‘We are the Champions,’” Duffy whispered to Kline, hoping to set the stage for what was about to happen next.
Moments later, with the Queen song blasting out the windows, the bus pulled into the Boyertown Shopping Center where more than 100 people waited to greet the team with signs and posters after a memorable 10-day trip at the Senior Babe Ruth World Series in Ephrata, Washington.
“We got home off the bus and a lot of players said they just got chills,” Kline said. “I couldn’t get a smile off my face when I saw everybody there to welcome us back.”
“It kind of put things into perspective that we weren’t just doing this for ourselves,” right fielder Aaron Kratz said.
The trip began when the team flew out to Washington on Aug. 4. It was the first time pitcher David Terry had ever flown in a plane. While others had traveled through the air before, many had never been to the West Coast.
The team stayed with different host families, with about 2-4 players per family, in Quincy, Washington, about 20 miles from the stadium. During their off days, the Pine Forge players took advantage of the area. There was paddleboarding, wakeboarding and tubing on Crescent Bay.
Others hiked with their host families and took in the sights of the mountainous area. The players even enjoyed the rides to and from the stadium when they could soak in the beautiful landscapes.
Some went out on the Columbia River and went swimming, fishing and cliff diving. One of the favorite sights among the players was the Glen Canyon dam, which is the second largest dam in the United States, where they saw a light show.
“At first we were a little skeptical,” second baseman Mitch Pinder said of staying with host families. “But once we got there and the families kind of took us around to see the sights and showed us what they did as jobs and stuff it was cool. We got the full experience.”
The baseball began on Aug. 6 when Pine Forge won the program’s first ever World Series game, 3-1, over the New England regional champ. The Indians went 3-3 in six games and advanced to the semifinals.
They came home with the third place trophy, which they showed off to their fans when