State champs again – local team wins third straight baseball trophy

The Force Ohio team, front row (l-to-r): Micah Murtha, Billy Adams, Ashton Montgomery, Luke Roggenburk, Tommy Harrison; second row: Peter Levin, Andrew Gormley, Joey Pfaff, Macklin Miller, Michael Van Etten; third row: Force Ohio coach Johnny Hamilton

The 11U Force Ohio baseball team won the 2015 Elite division Nations Baseball state championship last month. The team went undefeated in seven games, and outscored its opponents 57-12 in the tournament overall and 30-4 in elimination games. 

This is the third consecutive Nations Baseball state championship for the majority of the boys on this team, including Luke Roggenburk and Michael Van Etten (Avon Lake), Micah Murtha (Bay Village), Joey Pfaff (Rocky River), Macklin Miller (Marblehead), and Tommy Harrison (West Park). Andrew Gormley (Medina) won his second consecutive state championship as a member of the Force Ohio team, and Billy Adams (Medina), Peter Levin (Shaker Heights) and Ashton Montgomery (Richmond Heights) captured their first state championship trophy with the team.

The team is coached by Johnny Hamilton and Eric Pfaff, is sponsored by the Force Baseball Academy, and trains at the Force complex in Westlake.