The Boyertown 9-10U-B Advanced Play Team won the Cal Ripken 10U Iron Man State Championship! The team went 5-0 in the ten-team tournament, defeating Deep Run White 6-5 in the championship game to secure the title.

The Bears won their two pool play games against South Parkland and Upper Perk by scores of 9-6 and 12-9. Nine Bears hitters collected at least one hit in the South Parkland game, with Damon M getting an inside the park two-run homer. The Boyertown pitching trio of Ryder H, Everett S, and Austin K struck out a breathtaking fourteen South Parkland batters over the six-inning game. Bennett I was the offensive star in game two, going 3-3 with six RBI and two runs scored.

Despite going undefeated in Pool play, the Bears found themselves in the 5th seed going into bracket play, due to tiebreakers with the other four undefeated teams. Their first opponent in the single elimination bracket playoffs was MARA Warriors White. The Bears started the scoring in the top of first inning when Bennett I walked and Austin K got single, setting up the two-RBI triple stroked by Connor L. The Warriors came back in the bottom of the third, taking a 3-2 lead. Fortunately, the Bears offense was not finished scoring. They again began an inning with a walk, a single, and a two-RBI triple, this time by Ryder H, Everett S, and Damon M in the top of the fourth. Unlike the first inning, the Bears did not stop there. Cole M walked to put two Bears runners on the base paths, and both of those runners scored on consecutive RBI groundouts by Carter G and Wyatt D. The Warriors would get back one of those runs in the bottom of the fifth, but they were unable to get any closer and the Bears would go on to win the game 9-4.

The semifinal playoff game was against the 1 seed Harleysville Hornets, who had earned a first round playoff bye. This game saw a 10-7 comeback victory by the Bears in the top of the last inning. The game started much like the first-round playoff game, with the Bears scoring two runs in the top of the first to take an early lead. In this game, the first base runner was Austin K, who reached base on a two-out infield single. He was joined on the basepaths by Ryder H, who walked, and the two of them were then driven in by an Everett S double. The Bears added three more runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-0 lead. Harleysville came roaring back, plating six runs in the bottom of the fourth and one run in the bottom of the fifth to take a 7-5 lead. The Bears, finding themselves in a do-or-die situation, responded in a big way in the top of the sixth. Harleysville made a pitching change at the beginning of the inning which turned out to be ill advised, because the new pitcher walked the bases loaded before being pulled for yet another relief pitcher. Damon M adjusted quickly to the new arm, putting the first pitch in play and scoring two runs to tie the game 7-7. A walk by Cole M, a single by Carter G, and a hit-by-pitch of Wyatt D brought in two more Bears runs, all with nobody out. Harleysville finally recorded the first two outs of the inning, but the bases were still loaded and a subsequent walk by Zachary H brought in the fifth and final run of the inning for Boyertown. Bears pitcher Bennett I entered to close the game in the bottom of the sixth and held the Hornets scoreless, striking out two. Everett S and Wyatt D each had two hits to lead Boyertown, with both of Everett’s hits being for extra bases (double and triple).

The championship game was an exciting back and forth contest where each team had the momentum at different points of the game, but the Bears rode the final wave to a 6-5 comeback victory. As they had throughout the tournament, the Bears put up multiple runs in the top of the first inning. Ken Y began the game with a leadoff infield hit. He would later score on an Austin K RBI groundout. With two out and nobody on, Ryder H began a sequence of three straight hits by the Bears, who ended up scoring three runs in the inning. Deep Run got a run back in the bottom of the first and a second run in the bottom of the second to close the gap, but their big offensive surge occurred in the bottom of the fourth when they took the lead 5-3. Now it was the Bears turn to chip away. They scored one run in the top of the fifth on a Wyatt D RBI single to close the gap to 1. After Bears reliever Everett S held Deep Run scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, the offense had one more chance for a comeback. Things were looking bleak after Deep Run recorded two quick outs to start the inning. That was when Ken Y worked a 5-pitch walk to put pressure on the Deep Run closer. Bennett I followed the walk with a single to left. Austin K delivered the second-most clutch hit of the tournament with a single to right the score Ken Y and advance Bennett I to third. This brought Ryder H to the plate and gave him the opportunity to deliver the most clutch hit of the tournament. Deliver he did with an RBI single that scored the go-ahead run in Bennett I. Deep Run got out of the inning but was unable to mount any kind of threat in the bottom of the sixth, when Everett S pitched his second inning in relief and slammed the door shut, striking out the last two batters to secure the championship. Bennett I, Ken Y, and Everett S teamed up on the mound for the Bears in the championship game, scattering seven hits over six innings while striking out seven batters.