The district action has been concluded. The Tyrone VFW Teener All-Stars have kicked butt in recording the first local championship since 1991 and are headed to Bellefonte for the state championship tournament which begins Thursday, August 8, 2002 through Sunday August 11.
Led by manager Bob Clites and coaches Mark Mingle and Charley Kirkpatrick, the boys have been going through their paces, practicing about every other day in preparation for the state tournament.
Tyrone whisked through the District tourney with an 8-2 record, with the loses beng by a total of two runs. In going through the tournament, Tyrone made sure of its position by gaining the tiebreaker (head-to-head competition) against their top two adversaries, Altoona and Philipsburg by winning both games against each.
Wednesday night, the team will get all spiffed up and take their washed, combed and coiffured, best dressed selves to Bellefonte for the District banquet. Following a dinner, the team will receive their district trophy.
The state tournament opens Thursday, August 8, with the opening game of the tournament set for 10 a.m. The Tyrone Teeners play at 12:30 p.m. against the Area 2 runners up. A win by the local All-Stars will set up a game on Friday at 1 p.m., a loss would mean an 11 a.m. Friday game.
This is a double elimination tournament. A team would have to fight their way back through the consolation bracket after their first loss until all others were eliminated and they were the only team left in the tournament with one loss. That team would then have to defeat the winner from the championship bracket twice on Sunday, the last day of play, to claim the state title. The undefeated team would only have to win once on Sunday. To stay in the championship bracket would require three straight wins in the eight-team tournament to earn a berth in the finals on Sunday.
Their will be two fields used for state tournament play- the high school field and the teener league field with the field at the Bellefonte Middle School being used for practice.
“How well we do at Bellefonte. in the state tournament,” said Clites, “depends on which team shows up for us. During the district tournament, we seemed to play down to the level of the teams we played. The teams that on paper should have beaten us, we beat, the teams on the lower end that we should have walked over, we had trouble with. Our defense is as good as any team in the state tournament. The group of 13-year olds we brought up has been pushing and playing as well as our 15-year olds. If we are able to hit like we are capable of, we have a good shot at winning the states. “
