Tournament Season Has Arrived at Thurmont Little League
Ryan Tokar, Thurmont Little League
The regular season has come to an end at Thurmont Little League (TLL), but there is still a lot of baseball to be played! As the normal slate of games concluded, the league quickly moved into All-Star and tournament season.
First up were the TLL in-house All-Star games for the Tee-ball and Instructional (coach pitch) divisions, which were held on Tuesday, June 14. Representatives from Tee-ball included Wyatt Murray, Nora Miller, Caleb Specht, Chase Atkins, Lucy Liller, Colton Lynch, Chase Parker, Bohdi Morlan, Dixie Eckenrode, Bradley Arellano, Folton Beard, Maddox Ketterman, Carson Lingg, Graham Pearl, Bradley Hammack, Silas Wahl, Jake Fouche, Brenton Tull, Carson Unger, and Tyson Tsikerdanos.
The Instructional rosters were made up of Bryce Yocum, Travis Haller, Logan Otto, Jayce Oden, Parker Best, John Clements, Jaiden Poole, Connor McGrew, Brennan Pearl, Joseph Fogle, Parker Ketterman, Josh Tingler, Kenny Morris, Wyatt Bradshaw, Mikayla Dorsey, Nolan Kruger, Liam Ecker, Caleb Lynn, Caleb Valentine, Brayden Constable, Riley Woodward, and Maddox Miller.
Congrats to all of these future stars on a great season of baseball!
The Minor league division’s post-season kicked off with their In-House playoffs, which included a host of extremely hard-fought games, culminating in the Thurmont Dodgers becoming this year’s champs, overcoming a valiant effort by the Rangers. Both teams put forth a tremendous amount of effort and displayed excellent sportsmanship throughout the game.
The Dodgers were managed by Darryl Dextradeur, with assistants Kevin Rickerd, Kevin Rabbit, Anthany Wolfe, Bryan Smith, and Nathan Fritz. The roster included Bryce Rickerd, Julian Thompson, Colson Wolfe, Nemo Dewees-Johnson, Levi Baker, Rylan Roberts, Gavin Vaughn, Payton Fritz, Logan Smith, William Fletcher, and Marshall Fry. Congrats to the Dodgers on a successful campaign.
Next up was the Minors In-House All-Star Game, featuring Brayden Nash, Ilo Blentlinger, Luke Wiles, Herbie Blache, Dylan Dotson, Kaiden Dewees, Owen Ott, Dallas Smith, Liam Delawter, Bryce Rickerd, Payton Fritz, Joey Schenck, Scarlett Riffle, Jason Day, Andrew Ledbetter, Chris Kehne, Leland Beach, Wesley Meekins, Xavier Meekins, Tyler Martin, Levi Baker, and Julian Thompson.
These teams had a lot of fun and put on quite a show for their fans. Additionally, there will be a Minors All-Star team traveling to play in the Emory Frye Memorial Tournament and the Frederick American Youth Tournament. Managed by Darryl Dextradeur, the team is made up of Levi Baker, DeSean Brown, James Clements, Bryce Rickerd, Julian Thompson, Chase Dumas, Nemo Dewees-Johnson, Gracen Baer, Dallas Smith, Payton Fritz, Ethan Smith, and Wesley Meekins.
The Majors division was represented by two teams in end-of-season tournaments as well. The 2nd place Nationals and Manager Jeff Kuhn played in the Dave Fogle Tournament at Frederick National Little League; the team gave it their all, but the tournament was eventually won by the Brunswick Cubs. Meanwhile, the Thurmont Angels, coached by Brandon McQuay, played in the Gregg Quedeweit Memorial Tournament of Champions right here at Thurmont Little League. The Angels had a remarkable season, going undefeated in league play. They started strong with wins over Montgomery County and Mountain Valley, but, ultimately, they would lose in a very hard-fought game to Brunswick in the championship. All in all, it was a great season for these boys, and they made all of us at TLL proud. There will be two All-Star teams from the Major’s division. The 11-to-12-year-old team, managed by Brandon McQuay, will play in the District 2 Tournament. Players selected were Chase Cregger, Brody McQuay, Nate Morlan, Brayden Rickerd, Graysen Strobel, Marcus Kuhn, Bracen Webb, Landon Kelley-Voisine, Barry Riddle, Callen Edmonston, and Luke Berg. Adam Cregger and Lane Strobel will serve as assistant coaches. The 9 to 11-year-old team will begin their District 2 Tournament on June 25. This team will be managed by Jeff Kuhn, with assistant coaches, Justus Yocum and Chad Hahn. The roster includes Tucker Bryant, Reed McCauley, Ethan Tokar, Eli Yocum, Weston Tyler, Myles Kuhn, Parker Hahn, Cole Merriman, Riggins Koenig, Chance Kruger, and Camden Magluilo. Congratulations and best of luck to all the teams participating in tournaments this summer.
As another season came to an end, we were extremely saddened to learn about the loss of another close member of our Thurmont Little League family. Jeff Koenig, who served as an assistant coach for the Majors Orioles this season, passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. A tremendous baseball player in his own right, Jeff shined locally at Mount Saint Mary’s University, where he was inducted into their Hall of Fame. Over the past several years, he coached his sons as they moved through TLL at various levels. Despite his illness, Jeff could be found sitting on a bucket or in the dugout, right up until the very end, firing up his players and chirping at the umpires as only he could. Our thoughts are with Jeff’s wife, Erin, and their three boys, as well as their family, friends, and all of the players he impacted over the years. Rest in peace, Jeff. Thanks for your many years of service to TLL!
Be sure to check out next month’s edition for a full update on All-Star tournament play, as well as a recap of several fun events TLL will be taking part in this summer. Fall registrations will be opening later this summer as well, so be sure to sign up to be a part of a tremendous organization.
Minors Division Champions, Thurmont Dodgers Majors Division Champions, Thurmont Angels,
