Augusta Aces qualify for Florida baseball tourney, need help to quickly raise funds

STAUNTON — The Augusta Aces baseball team shined recently by placing second in the Babe Ruth League 2024 Virginia 13YO State Tournament.

But it wasn't easy.

After the Aces — comprised of local Babe Ruth players from Staunton, Waynesboro, Augusta County and Rockbridge County — lost their second game 4-2 to a Winchester squad, they had to make their way through the elimination bracket.

No matter. The Aces fought all the way back and on Sunday crushed the same Winchester team that had beaten them earlier, scoring 15 runs while holding their opponent scoreless. The victory forced a final showdown, also played Sunday, between the same two teams.

Winchester prevailed, winning the game and the tournament over the Aces by a final score of 13-3.

The Aces went 5-2 for the tournament, and at one point played five games during a 26-hour stretch amid soaring temperatures.

"It was hot," said Assistant Coach Cory Stringer. "But the Augusta boys put on a show. They represented the area very, very well."

Stringer said with perhaps one more day's rest, the Aces might have been lifting the state trophy. "I think we would have been the champions for sure," he said.

The tournament began in Richmond, but after flooding caused delays the remaining games were shifted to Monger Park in Mount Crawford.

Catcher Bentley Almarode, 13, said when the Aces ran into Winchester the first time in the tournament, their pitcher was dominant. "No one could hit off of him," he said.

But after defeating teams from Charlottesville, North Fairfax County and Stafford in the elimination bracket, the table was set for a doubleheader final against Winchester. After the Augusta Aces decisively won the first game, Winchester brought in their own ace for the second game, the same pitcher who caused the Aces problems earlier in the tournament.

"We just couldn't hit off him," Almarode said.

Despite the loss, the Aces have qualified for a trip to Tallahassee, Florida, where they will compete in the Babe Ruth League 2024 Southeast Region tournament for a chance to go the national finals. The teams in Florida will most likely be even tougher than the ones the Aces faced in Virginia.

"Everyone is pretty excited, from what I can tell," Almarode said. "It'll be fun for sure. There will definitely be competition but, we play our best game, we got it."

"If we finish in the top two (in Florida), we qualify to play in the World Series," Stringer said. "We're hoping to go down there and put on a good show." But Stringer said the Aces want to do more than play well, they want to win the entire thing.

"We're not going down there to place second," he said.

However, Stringer said anywhere from $7,000 to $10,000 must be raised — and quickly — to get the entire team and its coaches, including Manager Jamil Powell and Assistant Coach Dale Blair, to Florida.

"We've got a significant amount of money to raise in a small amount of time," said Stringer, who noted the team needs to be in Florida by Tuesday, July 23. "We want to make sure the kids get the opportunity."

A GoFundMe page titled "Help Augusta Aces Reach Florida for Southeast Regionals" has been established in an effort to raise the funds. Stringer is hoping community leaders and business sponsors will jump onboard as well to help. The Babe Ruth Ruth organization is a 501(c)(3), he said.

If anyone is interested in making donations to the Augusta Aces for the Florida trip, you can also contact Stringer at (804) 938-9302 or email him at cory.h.stringer@gmail.com.

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Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on X (formerly Twitter).

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Augusta Aces qualify for Florida baseball tourney, need help to quickly raise funds