Harleysville 9s win Connor McKenna Memorial Tournament

Harleysville Travel 9U team clinched the firstplace trophy on Sunday in Phoenixville at the Connor McKenna Memorial Tournament. The team led with consistent infield play, active bats, and heart.

Like all of 2020, the tournament did not go as planned. After two days of play, the tournament was postponed due to a positive Covid test. The games re-started seven weeks later on the most beautiful day of the season. Autumn weather and bright sunshine made for a perfect theater.

Upper Providence Little League hosts the tournament in commemoration of Connor McKenna.

Connor passed away in March 2011 after fighting a 19-month battle with cancer. He was 15 years old and loved baseball.

He never once complained about treatments or what he needed to do to fight angiosarcoma. He endured and persevered through all the surgeries and chemo treatments.

The Harleysville 9 year old team has persevered this week also. Kathy Heck, a player’s mother who attended every game faithfully cheering and encouraging the boys since the team began together three years ago, suddenly and unexpectedly passed away on September 11.

The baseball team attended Kathy’s family viewing on Wednesday. Every parent had tears as the nine year old boys hugged their teammate outside the funeral home. The boys wore their uniforms and came to the viewing to comfort their teammate on the worst day.

The 2020 Harleysville 9U team can point to their 20 win-5 loss record when asked about this season. The team can also point to a team batting average at .370 with 226 runs scored or a team pitching ERA of 3.49 with 159 strikeouts. But no one will remember the statistics.

The boys know what they learned this 2020 season; Each boy experienced the brevity of life, each boy understands courage in disbelief, and each boy learned to comfort their friend.

All in all, the Connor McKenna Tournament was meant to be the first gold medal for this team in 2020