ASBR teams at 13u and 14-16u will complete in tournaments this summer hoping to advance through district, state and regional playoffs that will culminate in a World Series event at each age level.

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by Dave Facinoli

The players were different but postseason success has continued for the Arlington Senior Babe Ruth at 13-16 All-Stars.

For the third successive summer this team won its District 6 tournament championship. This year Arlington did so by sweeping the Vienna All-Stars, 14-3, 11-6, in the first two contests of a three-game series in the two-team competition.

 Both games were played at Waters Field in Vienna.

By winning the title, Arlington advanced to the seven-team state tournament in Manassas, earning a first-round bye.

"It was a pretty solid two-game tournament for us," Arlington manager Jordan Bussie said. "Our defense played well, we hit and pitched well and we stole a lot of bases."

Arlington won the five-inning, slaughter-rule opening game over two days. The team led 6-1 after three innings when bad weather forced the contest to be continued the next night.

"That was kind of hard, but we kept our concentration well," said Bussie, who has managed all three district-championship teams.

 In that opener, Arlington had 10 hits and stole nine bases.

Ben Keppler, Carter Stern (two steals) and Liam Hinchliffe each had two hits. Will Devens (two steals) and Brooks Clements (two RBIs) each had a hit and an RBI, Anders Gross had a two-run single and Tommy Zwicker had an RBI hit.

Also, Keith Whitney walked three times and singled and Jack Kandies and Nolan Reed each had an RBI.

On the mound, Zwicker pitched a complete game. The lefty scattered six hits, struck out two and was helped by an inning-ending double play. Arlington made one error.

"Tommy threw well both days," Bussie said.

 In game two, Arlington rallied from a 1-0 second-inning deficit to build a 6-1 lead. Vienna rallied to within 6-4.

"We responded well after that and scored a bunch more," Bussie said.

Devens was the winning pitcher, working four innings with five strikeouts. Henry Porter pitched well in relief.

On defense, Arlington had an inning-ending double play to halt a scoring threat and the game ended when catcher Keppler threw out a runner trying to steal second base. He threw out two runners trying to steal in that game.

With the bat, Devens led the way with five RBIs, two hits and a sacrifice fly. One of his hits was a two-run, three-inning triple to give Arlington the lead for good at 3-1.

Clements had two hits and three steals in the win, Keppler had a sacrifice fly, Kandies had an RBI single, Whitney singled, Gross had an RBI hit and Porter added an RBI. Zwicker and Reed were among players with stolen bases.

Clements and Devens were members of the Washington-Liberty Generals' varsity team during this past spring's season.

Keppler and Clements are the two returning players from last summer's team.

Harry Groves also plays for the All-Stars. Trip Williams and Patrick Mellett are assistant coaches.

Including this summer, the 13-16 All-Stars have compiled a three-season 7-0 overall record in district-tournament play.

NOTES: The Arlington 13-16 All-Stars also have enjoyed playoff success the past two seasons beyond the district tournament as younger teams. They finished second in the state last summer and third in 2023 to earn berths in the Southeast Region each year . . .

Bussie played high-school baseball for the Wakefield Warriors in Arlington and also played Babe Ruth ball in the county as well as American Legion baseball for Arlington Post 139 and was the manager of his JMU Club Baseball team.