Rylan Johnson singles in the fifth inning for the 13/14U Statesmen at the All-Ripken Games.
By Rich Bevensee
When the best youth baseball players flood Diamond Nation in Flemington for the All-Ripken Games, they’re not anxious about measuring up against their peers.
An informal survey of the 200 or so ballplayers here at ‘The Nation’ revealed that what they are really looking forward to is not an evaluation, but an opportunity to play ball at a higher level.
“It’s great to see this kind of competition all in one place,” said Roman Ferry, an All-Ripken 13/14U invitee who plays club ball for East Coast Ghost. “At a lot of events I play in either at Diamond Nation or Perfect Game, I see pretty good competition but I also see weak teams. The difference is that pretty much everyone here is an elite player.”
On Tuesday, Ferry busted out of a batting slump with a two-run triple to lead his 13/14U Statesmen team to a 10-4 decision over the Revolution on Tuesday at ‘The Nation.’
The All-Ripken Games at ‘The Nation’ feature multiple teams in four age groups – 9/10U, 11U, 12U and 13/14U. Each team plays three games in a battle to qualify for a four-team playoff in their respective bracket.
There are three ways in which a player could receive an invitation to the All-Ripken Games, according to Ripken Baseball event operations coordinator Chris Hagan.
The first way is to receive a Player Of The Game Award at a Ripken event. The second is for a team to win a championship at a Ripken event, after which the entire team is nominated. And the third is when coaches and parents submit players’ names.
Once the names enter a database, Ripken Baseball staffers then pour through thousands of names to select players for the Games.
Now here’s the unique part of how Ripken Baseball operates.
Once selected, those players and their families may choose one of eight All-Ripken sites around the U.S. they want to visit, according to Josh Eldridge, director of individual player programming.
Montreal native Rylan Johnson and his younger brother Boston were two of those fortunate ballplayers chosen to compete. Johnson is Ferry’s teammate on the 13/14U Revolution, and Boston is playing with the 12U Defenders.
Rylan Johnson, who plays summer ball for the St. Bruno Blue Sox, located in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville in Quebec, said he first had to get over the shock of being selected. Then he had to somehow bottle his anticipation for a 6½-hour car trip from Montreal to Flemington before allowing himself to get excited about playing with some of the Northeast’s best 13/14U ballplayers.
Hunter Kephart of13/14U Revolution slides home on inside-the-park home run in the fourth inning.
“I was so excited, and shocked,” said Johnson, a rising 10th-grader at Heritage Regional in Longueuil, Quebec, who speaks fluent French. “It was such a long way and I was just so excited to get here. We don’t get to do this very often so coming out this far and having nice weather and playing good, meeting new people and playing with them is a fun experience.
“Being here now is a huge thrill.”
Once he and his brother reached New Jersey, Johnson still had the presence of mind to not be intimidated by playing with other great players.
“I tend to do me,” Johnson said. “I tend to not think about it and do what I do. And if I do me, I don’t look at anybody as better or worse, I just focus on myself.”
Unlike Johnson, Ferry is somewhat of a veteran when it comes to playing in showcase events like the All-Ripken Games. He said he’s grown accustomed to a higher level of play so he’s not intimidated by his surroundings.
“I’ve had a few of these tournaments in the past few weeks,” said Ferry, a rising eighth grader who primarily catches and plays first base. “I feel like I have less pressure whenever I’m at one of these events because I’m not trying to fight for a team or stay on a roster. I feel more free.”
The Statesmen split their Tuesday doubleheader, bowing, 10-3, to Summit in an earlier game.
In his team’s game against the Revolution, Ferry’s two-run triple was easily the big hit for the Statesmen, who managed to score 10 runs on just two hits.
“I’ve been in a slump lately at these things so to break out here is a good feeling,” Ferry said.
The Statesmen were protecting a 3-1 lead before exploding for seven runs in the top of the fifth inning on two hits, two walks, a hit batsman and three errors. Leon Hang and Ryan Garcia both reached on an error and scored, Johnson singled and scored, Rhys Wagoner reached on an error and scored, Ferry tripled and drove in two runs, and Charlie Moe had a sacrifice fly RBI in the rally.
For the Revolution, Hunter Kephart allowed two runs on no hits and four walks with four strikeouts, and he ripped an inside-the-park, two-run home run. Matthew Maher and Aaron Homkow each had an RBI single. Alim Ribiero tripled and Liam Santrock doubled.