Moorhead 14U Baseball off to Babe Ruth World Series
MOORHEAD 14U WILL REPRESENT THE MIDWEST AT THE BABE RUTH WORLD SERIES.
MOORHEAD, Minn. (KVRR) —
The Moorhead 14U baseball team is heading to the Babe Ruth World Series. After falling in the Regional Championship game, the team still received the invite to represent the Midwest.
“It was kind of a roller coaster set of emotions,” said Head Coach Wyatt Gunkel. “We are like, ‘Oh, we’re so close.’ But then…Nebraska [who] won, didn’t have enough players to go to the World Series. So, they say, ‘we think you’d be a great representation for Midwest. So, talk to your parents see how it goes and if you guys want to go, go right ahead.'”
Getting the nod to attend the World Series is just one piece to the puzzle. The other, the financial aspect of the trip to the host cities of Stafford and Fredericksburg, VA.
“Last time I checked, our spot fund was about $35,000,” said Gunkel. “Just the tremendous support from the community has been honestly an awe dropping moment.”
The players put their sales hats on and went door-to-door to help raise funds.
“We go to businesses,” said Shortstop and Pitcher Brady Steffen. “We walk in and we ask for the manager. We have a little sheet that we give them and it talks about our team and what we did to get to the world series and yeah, we just asked them and were polite.”
That politeness helped fund the trip for the first Moorhead team to reach the Babe Ruth World Series.
“I don’t even know how to explain it really,” said Steffen. “Like, [the]first team, you know, everybody’s looking up to us… it’s awesome.”
“As a coach, it’s unbelievable,” said Gunkel. “There’s been a lot of great coaches in the past that have had some phenomenal teams. So, I know I couldn’t be any more proud of these boys and how hard they work. They’ve been really fun to watch and I know I’m excited and I hope they’re excited too.”
The excitement is surely on display as the team prepares to leave Thursday. Coach Gunkel and the players hope to have fun during this tournament and try to win it all.
“This is a once in a lifetime experience,” said Gunkel. “So, enjoy the moment. This is the same game they’ve been playing since they were four years old playing catch in the backyard with Pops. So, enjoy the moment… Play hard… Have fun… And we’ll see what happens.”
“That’s like my dream kind of right now,” said Steffen. “Just win the World Series. That, like, I don’t even know how to explain it, but like it’s just awesome.”
The tournament begins Saturday, August 5.
