The Russell County Babe Ruth 15-year-old All-Stars wrapped up their season at the Ohio Valley Regional in Illinois at Grimes Field in Mattoon’s Peterson Park on Monday, losing their second game to Mt. Vernon, Ohio.

The team came away from the region with a record of 2-2, with both defeats coming at the hands of the Ohio team.

Last Friday the Russell County team lost 7-1 to Mt. Vernon and were sent into the loser’s bracket.

Ohio’s Ryan Goetzman had a double and a single and Ohio scored all of its runs in the first two innings.

On Sunday, the East Kentucky state champs got rolling with a 12-6 win over West Kentucky state champ Meade County.  

Russell County’s Tyler Robertson had two doubles and a single and catcher Jalen Bennett had a double and two singles in the victory.

Caleb Russell pitched three scoreless inning for Russell County as they defeated the other Kentucky team forcing a nightcap againt Westmont, Illinois.

In that game, Robertson pitched a 3-hit shutout with seven strikeouts. Russell County’s Kyle Gehring scored one run and had an RBI with a double in the victory.

The win set up a another game against Mt. Vernon, who jumped out to an early lead on Russell County.

Russell County rallied back but it was too late as Mt. Vernon scored several more runs to win 17-6.

The Eastern Kentucky champs scored four runs on five hits and got RBIs from Hunter Best, Jalen Bennett and Blake Aaron in the 5th inning.

“I told them, ‘Well, it’s not every day you get to come to Illinois and make a showing, so we might as well go out with a bang,’” Russell County coach Richard Bennett told the Mattoon newspaper.

“I hate ending the season like that—we’ve had such a good year—but that’s life. The only team that beat us was Ohio, and my hat is off to them. They’re a good baseball team.”

Bennett told the local paper how proud he was of his team’s effort.

“I’m thrilled to death to have them and it’s going to hurt me to lose them because this is the end of the road for me, but it’s been an honor and a privilege coaching them.” The all-star team was coached by Richard Bennett, David Aaron and Josh Popplewell. Team members include Blake Aaron, Tyler Robertson, Evan Selby, Garret Stephens, Jalen Bennett, Caleb Russell, C.J. Bray, Taylor Hutchison, Hunter Best, Kyle Gehring, Tyler Hayes, Justin Cox and Roger Brumley .