Babe Ruth World Series Returns to Story Field
babe ruth, baseball, recreation, sports, story field,
Current Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jason Schmidt used to play Babe Ruth baseball in Kelso. And current San Diego Padres manager Bud Black was a former Babe Ruth baseball player in Longview.
Babe Ruth baseball has a long history of popularity in Kelso-Longview, and that popularity seems to increase every year. The league is composed of individual divisions for 13-year-old boys, 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds, and then Senior Babe Ruth baseball is for boys ages 16-18.
In 1990, the city of Longview decided to host the national Babe Ruth World Series that brought in the top teams of 13-year-olds from across the country. The event was such a marketing and financial success that Longview has since hosted World Series tournaments in 1997, 2001 and 2004.
And in August 2009, the top 11 teams of 15-year-old boys from across the nation once again traveled to Longview. But besides those 11 teams, there was an interesting surprise twist to the 2009 competition.
“For 2009, there were eight U.S. regional winners who qualified for the tournament, plus one team apiece from Kelso and Longview, along with another team representing the state of Washington. Plus, we had one team that traveled here from Japan,” says Kirc Roland, co-president of the Longview World Series Committee along with co-president Tony Waadevig. “Having the Japanese team here actually made 2009 an international tournament.”
All tourneys in Longview have been played at David Story Field on the campus of Lower Columbia College. As for Roland, he is athletic director at LCC besides his duties on the World Series committee.
“The president and administration at LCC have been fantastic in allowing the tournaments to be held at Story Field – they all know what the event means to the economy and overall image of Cowlitz County,” Roland says. “Story Field in Longview is an excellent ballpark, and Kelso also has its own quality Babe Ruth facility at Stan Rister Stadium. However, Rister is simply not large enough to host national tournaments, but it has admirably hosted several regional Babe Ruth tourneys over the years.”
Roland adds that having the World Series in Cowlitz County also is rewarding for community members because several of the visiting ballplayers stay with host families during the eight days of the tournament.
“Many times when the visiting kids leave after the final game is played, tears start to flow because the host families get emotionally attached to the ballplayers and vice versa,” Roland says. “That’s why Cowlitz County has such a good history with the Babe Ruth World Series. The community gets behind it, the volunteers are invaluable on the Longview World Series Committee, and the business community comes through with sponsorships. It has really become a prestigious event that Kelso-Longview is lucky to host every few years or so.”
Story by Kevin Litwin
