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Aug 16, 2023

Youngstown 18U wins Palomino World Series

Aug 2, 2023 Submitted photoThe Youngstown 18U team poses with its Palomino World Series championship banner after defeating Mexico 10-4 on Monday in Laredo, Texas. Two years ago, the Youngstown 18U

Aug 2, 2023

Submitted photoThe Youngstown 18U team poses with its Palomino World Series championship banner after defeating Mexico 10-4 on Monday in Laredo, Texas.

Two years ago, the Youngstown 18U PONY squad shared a Palomino World Series championship with the Puerto Rico team.

This year, Youngstown doesn’t have to share.

A 10-4 victory over the Monterrey, Mexico team sealed the deal for the Youngstown squad consisting of the Class B’s All-Stars. Making a comeback in every contest down in Laredo, Youngstown’s team showed resilience each time it stepped up to the plate.

It’s been a reign of success for the Mahoning Valley squad, as the team shared a title in 2021, has finished second and has placed third twice. It also marks the first time a team from the 10-state zone that the Youngstown team occupies, has won an outright championship.

To say the excitement was there this time around may be an understatement.

“We’ve won the league the last eight years. We win the game, we just shake hands and go about our business,” Youngstown and Astro Falcons coach Don Pletcher said. “Down here, if you saw the ending last night, there were 18 kids flying out of the dugout having a dog pile, and me as a fat 63-year-old guy who’s been coaching for 50 years jumping right on top with them.”

AJ Havrilla (Canfield) and Owen Henne each recorded three hits in the victory. The Youngstown squad pulled away in the top of the seventh inning, scoring five runs on six hits.

Newton Falls and Lakeview product Gino Lazzari tallied a hit and an RBI for Youngstown.

When you’re playing with an all-star roster, it’s hard to build cohesiveness.

With 16 players from the Class B champion Astro Falcons squad, there was a base level of cohesion already instilled in the squad. After a game or two however, the new additions fit in just fine.

“It’s different when you put a team together for the first time because we’re the Class B All-Stars,” Pletcher said. “We know the Astro Falcons guys obviously, but when you pick up a couple other guys, it takes a little bit to fit in because they try to impress themselves on their teammates, because we have a good team where most of our guys are committed to college. They want to come in and try and do something good, so it usually takes a game (to adjust).”

That closeness is an asset, especially when you have players like Havrilla and Ben Slanker (Canfield), who have played together for years.

The best part — aside from winning, of course — is the memories. The team bonding that former players reminisce on — having a close-knit team just accentuates that.

“There’s just so much bonding going on here,” Pletcher said. “We just came back from a barbecue. We do everything as a team. We don’t do anything on an individual basis. We built some great memories together. And we know we do a good thing because when we won, and I got to my phone, I had 68 texts from a bunch of people, including kids from eight years ago congratulating us, saying how it brings back memories we had.

“These are kids that (are successful). Like Michael Turner (Champion) with the White Sox. These guys are very successful. They still take time out of their day to tell us that they just brought back some great memories. We like that.”

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