Kimberton 12U wins Pa. state title
The Kimberton 12-andunder Major League baseball team knew plenty of what it was up against.
Playing against topseeded Flood City in the Pennsylvania State Championship game — a rematch of last season’s Cal Ripken State title bout — the Kimberton Mean Green came away with a 17-0 rout over the team from Johnstown on Tuesday, July 11.
Flood City had been 4-0 in postseason play while outscoring opponents by 37 runs — including a 167, seven-home runwin over Kimberton a fewdays prior.
Kimberton was quick to get its revenge, though, blasting five long balls of its own on the way to the title.
Kimberton took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning behind a two-run home run by Marc DeSimone and a solo shot by Billy Batten. Hudson Narke set the tone defensivelymaking a diving catch in the bottom of the first to help Taj Donald settle in on the hill.
In the second, Kimberton unleashed a barrage of hits including homers by Tristan Dietrich, Marc DeSimone, and Donald to take a 12-0 lead on the defending state champions. Donald then set down the next nine batters he faced to complete a one-hit shutout
he win sends Kimberton to Clifton Park, N.Y., to represent Pennsylvania in the Regional Tournament starting next week.
Members of the Kimberton Mean Green include Taj Donald, Sophia Grillo, Wade Carruthers, Charlie Oschell, Billy Batten, Marc DeSimone, Jake Lane, Justin English, Logan Joseph, Tristian Dietrich, Luke Seldes, Hudson Narke and Jake Straight. The team is managed by Scott Grillo along with coaches Mike Lane, Chris Guidotti, Tyler Donald and Frank Oschell.
It was a stretch to remember for the Upper Providence Little League program this past weekend as two of its teams went on to capture their respective District 27 titles.
On Sunday, July 9, the WESSELT
Upper Providence 12-andunder Little League team won the championship with an 11-5 win over Lower Perk, completing their unbeaten postseason run where they averaged 15 runs per game.
The next day, the Upper Providence 10U team defended its title with an 18-5 win over Great Valley.
Members of the Upper Providence 12U team include TJ Cadden, Ryan Garvey, Brendan Kenning, Michael McKenna,. Cole Nilles, Cam Paquette, Gavin Schauder, Ryan Shaner, Vernon Sheeler, Gage Swanger, Matt Tsiaras and Jake Voynar.
Members of the Upper Providence 10U team include Jack Moley, Ethan Freed, Aiden Michael, Daniel Ditterline, Luke Pufko, Ryan Kurchner, Gavin Rambo, Ryan Fields, Jake Witmer, Patrick Getzfread and Cole White. The team is coached by Dan Freed, Matt Michael, Pat Getzfread, James Fields and Ben Witmer.
Football
LoganWesselt, a 12-yearold student at Perkiomen Valley Middle School West, was chosen as one of the best 25 middle school football players from the region to participate in the Football University (FBU) Na- tional Top Gun Showcase in Rock Hill, S.C.
Wesselt, a quarterback, will join more than 1,500 top youth football players in the largest national showcase event in the U.S. from July 18-20. The threeday camp includes intensive on-field and film-room training and coaching by NFL coaches and players claiming more than 500 years of coaching and playing experience.
The FBU Pre-Camp event to determine which youth football players would be selected from the tri-state area took place on June 10 and 11 at LaSalle College H.S. in Glenside. The weekend included technique training with a position instructor, and high-level competition between each position player as theywere executing routes assigned by the coaches.
Standout performers at the FBUTop Gun showcase will be selected to play in the FBU All-American Bowl in January 2018.
Wesselt is the son of Rich Wesselt, who was a star high school quarterback at Bishop Kenrick, then continued to play at the University of Pennsylvania.