From hurdles to highways, Manchester all-stars heading south for regionals

UPDATE (July 20, 3 p.m): Manchester began pool play in Massachusetts with a 10-0 win over regional tournament host Fairhaven/Acushnet.

MANCHESTER, NH – The Queen City sent off its 12U Cal Ripken all-star team in grand fashion Friday.

The team, which won the state championship on July 12 with a 13-5 win over Londonderry, now heads to Acushnet, Mass. where they’ll compete for the New England regional championship.

As the players and coaches left town Friday, they were escorted by state and city police, as well as Manchester firefighters.

Due to general attrition and declining participation in youth baseball, the accomplishments of this year’s all-star team, which rides a 13-1 record to Massachusetts, become all the more impressive, said manager Josh Bernier, who has been involved in youth baseball in the Queen City for nearly two decades.

“It’s been difficult … Numbers are declining. I really don’t know the reason behind that,” he said. “It’s at an all-time low now. We even had to cancel our tee-ball division, so I’m not sure where kids are playing baseball – you know, there are three leagues in Manchester between North Manchester/Hooksett (Little League), Manchester Little League and Cal Ripken – and volunteerism is down so this is really special group that hopefully can help put Manchester Cal Ripken back on the map.”

Manchester’s all-stars this season are Austin Noyes, Owen Labrie, Jaxson Sage, Charlie LaBranche, TJ Karvelas, Max Ellison, Ryan Bernard, Carter Buchan, Ronan Hill, Cole Nelson, Jaxson Bernier, Emmett Goonan, Connor Mills and Camden Bergeron.

Of course, the players’ parents have had to show equal dedication throughout this summer’s run which included getting the boys to all their tournament games including many games in Dover and Rochester en route to the team’s district and state titles.

“The parents commitment, between getting out of work earlier -the last three weeks its been difficult to work a full day because of the schedule – and you know, this group came together, we practice everyday,” said Bernier. “This group came together and their commitment has been unbelievable.”

Among those parents, Patrick Sage, Trent Ellison and Jake Mills have all assisted Bernier with coaching the boys this summer.

“We practice almost every day, through 90-plus degree heat,” said Bernier. “You know, we came here with a mission to win the state championship, which they succeeded, and now we’re going to try out luck at regionals.”

One of the trademarks of this group and its success, said Bernier, is the diverse personalities up and down the roster, an observation echoed by Manchester Alderman Dan Goonan, whose son Emmett plays shortstop for the all-stars.

“A lot of these guys have been playing ball outside in March, and a lot of these kids know each other from playing in other leagues, and they’re really melding well together,” said Goonan.  “It looks like that’ve been playing together forever.”

“We’ve done pretty well in New Hampshire, so it will be a good test for the guys down here at regionals,” he added.

The local nine began pool play at today with a 10-0 victory over host Fairhaven/Acushnet. They’re scheduled to follow-up with a 5:30 p.m. Sunday game against Washington Park, Rhode Island, and then they play Marshwood, Maine at 3 p.m. Monday.

Should Manchester’s all-stars win their bracket, they’ll advance to the semifinals on Wednesday at 5 p.m. If they finish second or third, they can still reach the semifinals with a win Tuesday evening at either 5 or 7:30, depending on their placement.

The regional championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday with the winner advancing to the Cal Ripken World Series August 7-18 in Branson, Missouri.

“I’m just excited for this experience and hoping we can do good this weekend,” said second baseman Buchan, 12. “(We’re going to try to) work hard, do good and have fun.”

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