Winter Park Babe Ruth 10U All-Stars win Florida State Championship

It seemed to be over before it even started.

Once the final out was recorded in the opening game against Citrus Park, the Winter Park Babe Ruth 10U All-Stars team found themselves in a hole early — falling 5-3 in a close game.

Usually one loss does not equate to the end, but in a double-elimination tournament, it feels like an impossible task to overcome.

Manager Matt Incinelli knew this, but he also realized the potential in having his kids pushed to the brink of falling out of the 12-team Florida State Tournament.

“We lost the first game of a double-elimination tournament, which is usually a kiss of death,” he said. “In retrospect, the loss was almost a good thing, because we didn’t have anything to lose after that. We just came out and played loose and played aggressive — it was win or go home after that.”

Following the loss, Incinelli’s gritty crew took that attitude and went on an absolute rampage — winning five straight games on their way to defeating Citrus Park 3-1 in the final to claim the Florida State Tournament crown and move on to Southeast regional play in Williamsburg, Virginia.

The 10U All-Stars started postseason play last month, when the squad went undefeated at 5-0 through district tournament play — leading to the State tournament birth in Oviedo. 

The tournament was a constant battle for Winter Park, especially in the semifinals. Going into the last inning and trailing Palm Beach Gardens 3-2, Winter Park hit an offensive stride and scored three runs to secure a 5-3 win and move on to the final.

For Winter Park, the combination of balanced team play on both sides of the ball and an instinctual desire to keep playing provided the 10U squad with all the fire it needed.

“Because we went through the loser’s bracket — we had to win those five games in a row — we got contributions from just about everybody,” Incinelli said. “We had five or six guys pitch. We had guys who haven’t had a chance to pitch a whole lot thus far go out and do a good job — it was a real team effort.”

Although Incinelli attributes his team’s performance to the players working as a strong, single unit, pitching performances from Ethan Russell, Davis Peters, Isaac Incinelli and Gavin Gonzalez certainly helped.

Gonzalez pitched two games during the tournament, including two scoreless innings to close out the championship.

With every one of Winter Park’s wins coming by a run or two, good pitching became vital to moving on to the next tournament. 

It’s interesting to note, however, that although the pitching for Winter Park was extremely stout throughout the tournament, the strength for this team has usually been in the offensive game.

“We generally have been a hitting team in the past — we generally put a lot of runs on the board — but against this higher-level competition, I have found that it isn’t easy to put a lot of runs on people,” Incinelli said. “The defense is definitely much better than it was at the district level, and the pitching is much better, so our pitching has stepped up.”

Although the pitching was the focal point in Incinelli’s approach to the tournament, the offense showed as well — especially in instances where it mattered the most.

Parker Armstrong picked up multiple big hits, and Isaac was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle against Palm Beach Gardens. 

Combine timely hitting, consistently solid pitching and a back-against-the-wall attitude, and Winter Park finds themselves prepping for regional play, which begins July 18 — giving the team less than a week to prepare.

Despite the added magnitude of playing against the best teams in the region, and the little time to get ready, Incinelli said he has no plans to change up the routine — sticking to the old adage, “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”

“Anything from this point is frosting on the cake,” Incinelli said. “I think that we have already accomplished some of our big goals, which was to improve and prove we could play with the better teams in the state.”