Utah baseball players getting ready to represent the state in New York championship
Aug 1, 2025, 12:00 PM
Over the weekend, the Eastern Utah Battle 13U baseball team beat out nine other teams to win the Babe Ruth Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament. (Lacie Cowley)
(Lacie Cowley)
SALT LAKE CITY — A group of 13-year-old baseball players from Utah, their coaches, and family members are getting ready to head for New York to play in the Babe Ruth World Series.
Over the weekend, the Eastern Utah Battle 13U baseball team beat out nine other teams to win the Babe Ruth Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament.
The team of players from Carbon and Emery counties had the privilege of hosting the tournament in their hometown of Price.
Coach Derek Martinez says the team made a comeback victory.
“They won their district, they won the state tournament, and then they came back from a loss in the second game of this regional tournament and won six games in a row,” the coach said.
The Pacific Southwest Region includes teams from California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Hawaii.
Babe Ruth League regions map. (Babe Ruth League)
Player Jason Cowley says one game held during the multi-day tournament was his favorite because he got MVP for hitting really well.
Player Alex Martinez, Coach Martinez’s son, says his favorite game was against one of the teams from Hawaii.
“It was a really close game and … in the bottom of the seventh, there’s two out, bases loaded, and I got the game-tying hit. So that’s pretty awesome,” he said.
The boys said they’ve gotten great support from the community, and that half the town was there for the tournament.
Assistant coach Timmy Urbanik says one of their best pitchers injured his thumb just before the regional tournament and all of the kids stepped up.
“They all came alive this last week and they worked hard and they really dug in,” Urbanik said. “They turned it on and went to a level that we haven’t really seen them at. I think they kind of excelled past our expectations.”
Coach Martinez says there came a point in the last game where he started to realize the 11 kids were going to win and get a chance to play for the 13-year-old Babe Ruth World Series Championship in Jamestown, New York.
Baseball tournament fundraising
The coach said the team will leave for the World Series on Aug. 13. They have to check in on Aug. 14, and then they’ll be in New York for 10 days as they play in the tournament.
He says they don’t know who they’ll play first yet, and they don’t even know the format of the tournament.
It will cost each boy about $4,000 to cover hotel, transportation and food costs.
“It’s a pretty pricey little adventure,” the coach said.
Coach Martinez says they are doing some fundraising to try to come up with the money. They’re also holding a raffle and they’re playing a fundraising game in Huntington.
“We’ve been pretty lucky to be their coach”
This is the first time in more than two decades that a team from Utah is heading to the 13-year-old Babe Ruth World Series, and it’s the first time a team from outside the Wasatch Front is going.
Coach Urbanik says they’re all good kids and that all 11 members of the team are on the honor roll.
“They’re all good kids. They hang out together all day, every day. They get a lot of time together. Sometimes they fight like brothers. They’re an impressive group of young men,” Urbanik said.
“These guys have played together for several years,” Coach Martinez said. “A lot of them are just friends or my friends’ kids and … they’re loaded with talent in this age group. We’ve been pretty lucky to be their coach.”
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