Glen Allen 13-year-old all-star baseball team seeks World Series title at home

A long and winding trail has led one Glen Allen all-star baseball team back home, finally, for what its players, coaches and supporters hope is the most memorable week among several years of memories.

The Glen Allen Youth Athletic Association 13-year-old Babe Ruth all-star team is hosting the 13-year-old Babe Ruth League World Series this week at RF&P Stadium, and after nearly winning national titles two out of the past three years, the team wants to finish the job this year.

So far, so good.

Through the tournament’s three-game pool play rounds, Glen Allen was the most dominant team among the 12 in the tournament, sweeping its opponents from Rhode Island, Washington and Indiana by a combined score of 23-2 to earn the overall No. 1 seed in the double-elimination championship bracket, which began Wednesday. Glen Allen has Wednesday off and will play its next game Thursday at 10 a.m. against ninth-seeded Altamonte Springs, Florida, which defeated eighth-seeded Greater Wenatchee, Washington 8-2 Wednesday morning.

Three more consecutive wins would give Glen Allen an elusive World Series championship and provide the team’s core with its sweetest victory, capping a four-year run of impressive performances. Many of the team’s players also competed together in 2021 on the 10-year-old all-star team that finished second in the World Series that year; as 11-year-olds on the team that finished third in the 2022 World Series; and as 12-year-olds on the team that finished seventh in last year’s World Series. The team’s core also has won three district titles, three Virginia state titles, and one Southeast Region title.

“We always talk about the expectation that we compete at a high level,” said Manager Scott Paciocco, who has led the group through its four World Series experiences. “We are humble, we don’t play arrogant. We understand that it is the game of baseball, and it can go either way. We haven’t earned anything, but I do believe these kids deserve the chance to play in front of their home crowd.”

After traveling to regional and World Series tournaments the past three years in places like Tennessee, Missouri and Florida, Paciocco conceded that it’s been nice for players, coaches and families alike to sleep in their own beds more often this summer. But being the host team (as Glen Allen’s 13-year-old entry has been for the past three years in this event) also comes with some added pressure, he said.

“I don’t think we snuck up on anybody,” said Paciocco.

Glen Allen has a strong reputation nationally – in part as the result of his team’s run during the past four years, and in part from previous World Series success (Glen Allen teams won the 10-year-old Cal Ripken League World Series title in 2001 and 2016 and the 12-year-old title in 2018). The organization also has hosted numerous state, regional and World Series events.

As the host team this year with an automatic bid to the World Series, Glen Allen wasn’t permitted to play in its district, state or regional tournaments, so Paciocco’s group instead competed in two tournaments in Virginia against 14-and-under teams. It went 6-0.

The commitment made by the all-star players is one that has filled each of the past four summers, beginning with practice in late May or early June and continuing with nearly daily tournaments and practices through mid-August.

“It’s not only the kids, and it’s not only the coaches. It’s the siblings, it’s the grandparents, parents that give up their summers, or that take their vacations in Branson, Missouri [site of the 12-year-old World Series] instead of the Outer Banks,” Paciocco said. “It is an enormous commitment. It is a grind, and it does take a special kid to understand that.”

As the players have grown and matured physically at different rates, some have shifted in their positions or their roles. But Paciocco and his staff have consistently emphasized pitching, defense and depth of talent. That his players surrendered only two runs in their first three World Series games this year came as a bit of a surprise to Paciocco but not as a shock.

“I do expect us to throw strikes and play defense behind our pitchers at a really, really high level,” he said. “That is 100% an expectation that we have ingrained in the team.”

In Glen Allen’s first game, Charlie Riviello and Tommy Reilly combined to hold North Providence-Smithfield, Rhode Island to just four hits and one unearned run, but it appeared that might be enough to hand Glen Allen a loss. Then, in the bottom of the sixth inning, the host team used five hits sandwiched around several walks and errors to explode for nine runs. Chris Hall led the team with two hits, while nine different players each scored a run.

In its second game, the team jumped out early with a seven-run second inning against Greater Wenatchee, Washington. Landon Allen led Glen Allen’s nine-hit attack with two hits and four runs driven in, while Reid Lutton surrendered only two hits and an unearned run in four innings on the mound and Hall closed the game out with a scoreless inning of relief.

Glen Allen again jumped out early with three runs in the bottom of the first inning in its third game, against Schererville, Indiana, on the strength of a run-scoring double by Tommy Reilly, another RBI double by Hall and an RBI groundout by Riviello. Hunter Morris was stellar on the mound, throwing four innings of one-hit ball with three strikeouts and four walks. Austin Nester closed out the win with three innings of one-hit relief, compiling two strikeouts in the process.

Other team members are Jack Adams, Carter Burton, Trace Holt, Christopher Kowtna, Charley Robins, Mason Paciocco, Tony Paciocco, and Griffin Tharp. Scott Paciocco’s brother, Matt, is an assistant coach, along with Joseph Burton and Joseph Adams.

Should Glen Allen advance past Altamonte Springs Thursday, it would play Friday at 10 a.m. against the winner of a game between fourth-seeded Lutz, Florida and fifth-seeded Auburn, Alabama. A loss against Altamonte Springs would send Glen Allen to the loser’s bracket and a 5 p.m. elimination game matchup Thursday against the loser of the latter game. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at noon at RF&P Stadium.

Only two other teams (Oahu, Hawaii and Eastern Youth, Massachusetts) were undefeated through their first three games.

Glen Allen had Tuesday and Wednesday off, and as a result has all of its pitchers available for Thursday’s game, Paciocco said.

“We’re focused on tomorrow,” he said. “Altamonte Springs has a long trail of success. The higher on the mountain you go, the harder it gets.”

Glen Allen’s players and coaches have come up just short in their attempt to reach the mountaintop during the past three years, but they hope climbing the mountain in their backyard is within their reach this year.

Click here to view the complete 13-year-old Babe Ruth League World Series tournament schedule and results.

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12-year-old Glen Allen all-stars competing in World Series in Missouri

Meanwhile, in Branson, Missouri, the GAYAA 12-year-old Cal Ripken League all-star team won its first two games in the 12-year-old World Series (7-3 against Central Ozark, Missouri and 9-1 against West Linn, Oregon) before dropping a heartbreaking 9-8 game in walkout fashion to Campbellsville, Kentucky. But Glen Allen rebounded with an impressive 5-2 win against previously undefeated Laguna, California to finish in a there-way tie at 3-1 in its four-team pod.

But the teams from Kentucky and California held the tiebreakers and advanced to the United States championship bracket in the 39-team tournament, while Glen Allen settled for the top seed in the tournament’s double-elimination Iron Man Bracket, a 21-team event comprising the teams that didn’t make the U.S. or international championship brackets. (Teams from as far away as Chinese Tapei, Korea, Australia and Japan are competing in the event.)

Glen Allen will face Hanford, California Thursday morning. Four straight wins would give Glen Allen the title in that bracket, whose championship game is scheduled for Saturday morning.

Team members are Andrew Clemens, Nolan Hinton, Chase Houghtaling, Anthony Marks, Holden McPherson, Tyler Melson, Joshua Nolan, Malachi Parris, Miles Phaup, Grady Seay, Alvin Tillman, Jr., and John Williams. The team is managed by Ryan Hinton and assisted by Peyton Hinton, Peyton Via and Ken Marks.