The dust from the two Ohio Valley Regional youth baseball tournaments Logansport hosted has settled, and by all indications the tournaments were a success.
Mount Vernon, Ohio was crowned the 13-year-old Babe Ruth champion Thursday, and Crown Point claimed the 11-year-old Cal Ripken championship Monday. Mount Vernon advanced to the Babe Ruth World Series to be played in Levelland, Texas from Aug. 19-26. There is no 11-year-old Cal Ripken World Series.
Ohio Valley assistant commissioner Rick Frank was impressed by the two tournaments Logansport hosted.
“We do 17 tournaments total, and I would put these two in the top if not the best that we’ve had,” he said. “And this is the only site where we had two different age groups, and we actually kind of planned it this way because we knew Logansport was one of the very few sites that could handle that.
“The committee’s done a great job. They’ve done everything we’ve asked times a thousand.”
Logan made enough of an impression to be awarded another Ohio Valley Regional soon.
“We’re very pleased, and we’re actually going to come back here in 2012 for the 11s also. We just made a commitment for that,” he said. “It’ll be cool that year because we’ll have the 12s in Kokomo at Kokomo South Side. So we’ll have two major age groups within a half hour of each other — a lot of good baseball.”
Logansport hosted the 12-year-old Ohio Valley Regional in 2005 and 2007. The two OVRs held this year were the third and fourth the city has hosted.
“We’re always happy to come back here,” Frank said.
Logansport’s Dave Smith, assistant state commissioner for Babe Ruth Baseball in Northern Indiana, said the local volunteers who made the OVRs possible did a commendable job. He added several local sponsors were also instrumental in making the tournaments possible.
“The tournaments went along without missing a beat,” Smith said.
The OVRs brought thousands of dollars into the community. Smith said the local hotels were near or at full capacity most of the week. Kokomo also benefited from the OVRs as several visitors stayed in Kokomo for the week.
Logan’s 11-year-old all-star team advanced past pool play but was knocked out in single-elimination play. Logan’s 13-year-old team had a good showing in its two games but let both slip away in that tournament’s double-elimination format.
No Little League, Cal Ripken or Babe Ruth League team from Logansport has ever made it to the World Series level. The 1983 Babe Ruth 13-year-old team still has the distinction of advancing further than any other Logansport youth league or Babe Ruth League team. It advanced into the championship game of the Ohio Valley Regional in Beckley, W. Va., although it had to survive the losers’ bracket. Logansport has had several teams advance to Ohio Valley Regional play, but only one made it into the championship game(s).
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