Notes from the District 7 Babe Ruth tournaments:
It seems like every time Mifflin County 15-year-old team manager Bernie Howard wins a game, he sets another milestone. With Mifflin County's 20-2 win over Gettysburg in the district final, it marked his 70th win as an All-Star manager.
Only three other managers in the 58-year history of the league have won 70 or more games at the All-Star level: Fred Zook (91), Bill Corbin (79) and the late Bob Reigle (77).
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It's no secret that Mifflin County has dominated the District 7 tournament in recent years. It has put together some long winning streaks against the other teams in the district.
The Perry County streak is 24 with the last loss coming in 2004 in a 14-year-old game, 11-4.
The Gettysburg streak is now at 20 and the last win for G-Burg came in 2007 in a 14-year-old game, 11-8.
But, the last loss came in 2009 from Upper Adams, also in a 14-year-old game, 5-4. Up until that loss, Mifflin County had rolled off 22 wins in a row in district play. Upper Adams won a 4-1 game in a 13-year-old district final in 2000.
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This year's 15-year-olds are one of the most explosive teams Mifflin County has produced. In 17 games, the team has scored 243 runs for an average of 14.3 runs per game. The 148 runs it scored as a 13-year-old team two years ago was second highest ever; the record for one year is held by the 1983 Mifflin County 13-year-olds, who scored 156 runs.
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Mifflin County's 10-0 shutout of Gettysburg on July 1 was the league's 99th of all-time. The 15-year-olds have 46, while the 14-year-olds have 24 and the 13-year-olds have 29. Mifflin County's record in games when either team tosses a shutout is 99-36.
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The 15-year-old title was Mifflin County's 30th at district level, but only 29 have come in District 7. Back in 1957, Mifflin County won its first district championship, but it was in District 5.
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Mifflin County 14-year-old manager Scott Wright won his second straight District 7 title as he won his first last summer with the 15-year-olds.
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With the two district titles in hand, Mifflin County can sweep for the 11th time since it fielded three teams starting in 1999. The 13-year-olds can complete the sweep this weekend on the road. From 1969 to 1998, when Mifflin County fielded two All-Star teams (13 and 14-15), it swept the district 11 times. The only other league to sweep the district was Mount Union in 1984.
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Mifflin County's Ty Hunter smashed two triples against Gettysburg in a 14-year-old game on July 1 and he did coming off the bench. The record for most triples in a game is held by Danna Kauffman in a 13-year-old district game against Mount Union on July 9, 1982.
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With the start of the 13-year-old tournament at Mummasburg, the 15 players will bring that total to 1,002 over the past 58 years. Mifflin County fielded 983 coming into this season and newest All-Stars at 15 were Jacob Walters and at 14 Andrew Bishop, Trevor Bulick and Aaron Sharp. Rosters were incomplete in 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1967 for a total of 16.
