HEREABOUTS lynn minneman
Clayton Hardscrabble is a tradition that has been around for what seems like forever.
My husband, who is 51, even played in Clayton Park on a T-ball team when he was growing up; and my son, who is 14, played there when he was young, too. As parents, we are grateful that today’s youths have the same opportunity.
Ben Mangen, Greg Peffley, and Sean Murphy are a few of the 12-year-old players on the Clayton Hardscrabble Little League baseball team that recently won the 2009 Little League Ohio District 8 Championship.
Winning the district competition advanced the team to the double-elimination state tournament, which took place July 25 through Saturday, Aug. 1, at Mac Burleson Fields, in Talmadge, (near Akron) Ohio.
Doug Mangen, Brian Peffley and Jerry Murphy, the boys’ fathers, are coaches for the team, and they were just as excited as the youths about this year’s chance at the state championship; this was the team’s second year in a row in which they made it far enough in competition to be able to participate. Although ultimately no title was brought home, the coaches were very pleased with the team’s athletic abilities.
Before they left for the tournament, Mangen said, “We just have a bunch of really good baseball players,” and he could not name just one “stand out” player. Other members of the team include: Devon Pennington, Brock Jamison, Nick Broyles, Matt Pfeffer, Cody Harsman, Jackson Ford, Chase Coy, Kyle Craddick and Ryan Smith.
“Ideally, we’d love to win the state tournament and go on,” said Mangen in a pregame interview for the Dayton Daily News. “But, we know it will be very difficult.”
“It’s kind of how our team is set up (having good athletes), which is nice for a coach.”
Regrettably, although it wasn’t in the stars this year to take home the state championship, the coaches were all very happy that the team was able to attend.
In an e-mail, Mangen wrote, “Unfortunately, we have been knocked out of the tournament and finished 5th in state.”
As of this writing, he could not accurately give statistics because, “The scorekeeper keeps the books with him, and he is still in Tallmadge camping.”
Oh well, stats or not, everyone knows — the boys, as always, gave it their all and are appreciated for their efforts.
Contact this columnist at (937) 609-4152 or mminneman2@woh.rr.com.
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