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Group dominates record book

LEWISTOWN — The class of 2018 turned the Mifflin County Babe Ruth record book upside down.

Eight of the nine offensive records are now held by a member of the recent national runner-up team.

As a 13-year-old, Casey Conner was the top hitter at the Babe Ruth World Series. As a 15-year-old, he won the league batting title. Now that his Babe Ruth career is over, he leaves as the league’s all-time hitter with an average of .538. Conner was 63-for-117.

The only other 15-year-old to make the top 10 was Brian Yetter (fifth).

Thomas Walters (2004-07) was the all-time leader in games played but is the only player left from the past.

Four players — Colby Bodtorf, Ethan Eichhorn, Brycen Hassinger and Cole Schlegel — played all 46 games throughout their careers. Conner is next in line with 45 and Jaxson Pupo and Connor Cherry each played 43. Yetter finished with 42 games and Bryce Dobson had 41.

Chris Tressler (2002-04) was the all-time hit leader with 51, but Yetter is now at the top of the list with 67. Behind him, teammates Conner and Bodtorf are tied at 63 for second. Eichhorn is fourth at 62; Schlegel and Hassinger also are in the top 10.

Tressler and Casey Zimmerman (2004-06) had the most runs scored with 44. Bodtorf is now in first place with 69 and Yetter is second with 66. Eichhorn is third with 50 runs, while Schlegel is fourth with 49. Rounding out the top six are Hassinger, 47 and Conner, 45.

Yetter put up big numbers in the RBI department — 76 for his career. Conner is second with 49 and third is Eichhorn with 45. Schlegel, Hassinger and Bodtorf are top 10 as well.

Yetter is still the home run leader with 11, but Conner moved into second place with six.

Ty Bodtorf (2012-14) was all-time leader in doubles with 15, but he was overtaken by Yetter with 22. Eichhorn is now second with 18 and Schlegel fourth with 14.

The only player to break into the top 10 in triples was Schlegel with four.

Tressler led in at bats with 127; he is now fourth. Bodtorf is the new leader with 150 and Eichhorn is close behind with 149. Yetter had 139 and Hassinger finished with 128. Two other players made the top 10, Schlegel and Conner.

Of note, Marshall Maidens was the league’s 27,000th official at-bat, in the state championship game.

Bodtorf had 15 career pitching appearances and pitched 59 innings, both good enough for 10th place. Bodtorf’s WHIP was 1.25 for his career (50 or more innings) and he is now ranked seventh. Five pitchers finished with five or more decisions: Yetter, 6-0; Bodtorf, 8-1; Conner, 7-1; Cherry, 6-1; and Eichhorn, 4-1.

Yetter’s 71 strikeouts ranked fourth.

As a team, the 15-year-olds set new standards in hits, 230; official at-bats, 618; and runs, 224. The team hit .372 — good enough for a tie for sixth place.

Mifflin County’s fielding was strong as well. In 22 games, the team committed only 13 errors, just two in the World Series. The team fielded .977, which was 22 points higher than the old record held by the 2009 15-year-olds (12 or more games or 350 chances).

The class of 2018 set a record for most games played with 46 and the most wins with 42. The 42-4 (.913) record is top winning percentage. The 20 wins this season also are a new record. The old record was 17 held by the same group of players two years ago as 13-year-olds.

Justin Yoder, the team’s manager, now has a two-year All-Star record of 25-3.

Mifflin County now has a 694-301 record and is just five games away from playing its 1,000th game. The local All-Stars have recorded 51 seasons in a row without a losing record.

After 64 seasons, Mifflin County has won 88.5 district titles, had 75 finishes in Pennsylvania final four, 46 times in the state’s finals, 23 state runners-up, 23 state champions, 26 appearances in the Mid-Atlantic Regional, 12 finishes in the regional’s final four, four regional champions, three teams in the top six at the World Series, two in the final four, a national runner-up and national champion.

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