Lebanon Valley Teener League teams win gold and silver in state tournament

The two Lebanon Valley Teener baseball teams that participated in the recent VFW state tournaments earned medals. The 14U team competed in Punxatawney and won gold, and the 16U team competed in Huntingdon and won silver.

Players represented Lebanon County and each school district. Joel Umberger, president of the Lebanon Valley Teener Baseball Association and an assistant coach for the 16U team, said they held a tryout with kids from each of the county’s VFW teams and invited the top athletes to participate.

Umberger said they had one tournament prior to the state games to get the boys together and warmed up, and then they hit the diamond.

The 16U team played five games — two on Saturday for placement and three on Sunday during the tournament. On tournament day, Umberger said they won the first couple of games but lost the final to secure second place.

“We … kind of ran out of steam in the third game because that was almost eight hours worth of playing baseball,” he said. “It got to be a little much in the heat and everything.”

Lebanon Valley’s Teener League includes the Annville, Cleona, ELCO, Iona-Ebenezer, Jonestown, Myerstown, Palmyra, and VFW Post 23, which is the Lebanon City team. Umberger estimated they have around 150 athletes competing across the league.

Umberger said they try to get at least one player from each team, though that depends on how many players come to tryouts.

With so many different players from various parts of the county comes an opportunity for the boys to form new relationships and work with unfamiliar coaches. Umberger said one of his players messaged him after the tournament to let him know he was practicing with a player from another team, who he wouldn’t have met if not for the state tournament.

Working with different athletes and coaches gives the kids a more varied experience and an opportunity to learn from different people.

“They get to have new coaches, coaches they haven’t been around before, and just have an all-around good time,” he said. “It helps them to see some diversity in how guys coach, how other coaches coach, how other players play the game, and sportsmanship you see from different players.”

Joe Noel, head coach of the 14U team, said his gold-winning athletes were especially young this year. Out of 12 kids on the team, there were four 14-year-olds and eight 13-year-olds.

“Our goal was to do a little better than the year before — that team went 0-4,” he said. “We ended up going 4-0 and winning the tournament and becoming state champion for, I believe, the first time in the Lebanon Valley’s history. I know the 16U had won it before, but I was told the 14U hadn’t, so it was a pretty nice accomplishment for the kids.”

Noel said the tournament is an opportunity for the players to get more repetitions and for them to learn the character traits that make a good athlete.

“It gives them a chance to know what it takes to win in a competitive situation, gives kids opportunities to learn how to battle and push through adversity and how to overcome things, and it’s just a really great opportunity,” he said. “I feel blessed to have been a part of it, and I know my assistant coaches feel the same way. We all love baseball, the kids love baseball, and we just want to see them succeed.”

Both Umberger and Noel said these players and their success show there are good things for the future of Lebanon County baseball.

“We’ve always been there, and I think we’ll be there for a long time,” he said. “We have a lot of good ball players, kids that know how to win, kids that aren’t afraid to compete, and I think the future’s really bright.”

Umberger hopes they can bring the tournament to the area next year following the league’s success.

“It’s a little bit of an undertaking to do it, so we’re in the process of putting a committee together now,” he said. “We’ll probably meet in September to put that together and host one of them, either the 16 and under or the 14 and under, here in Lebanon and maybe use local fields like Fifth Ward, Coleman Park, maybe Ebenezer Field.”