The summer of fun for the Janesville 13U Babe Ruth team ended Friday night.
Atlantic Shore of Ventnor City, New Jersey scored seven runs on just one hit in the third inning and went on to eliminate Janesville 14-4 in a 2026 World Series semifinal in Jamestown, New York. The game ended when the 10-run mercy rule was reached in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The General finished the summer with a 39-14-3 record.
Janesville outhit ASHORE 10-7, but errors and walks hurt the Generals for the second straight game.
“We outhit them but got 10-runned,†Janesville head coach Tom Davey said. “The errors, walks, hit by pitches, and they got the leadoff man on in each of the six innings.
“You’re not going to win with that kind of performance,†Davey said. “They put up a seven-spot up on one hit, and when you do that, it spells doom.â€
ASHORE built an 8-0 lead through four innings, but Janesville showed resiliency, scoring four runs in the top of the fifth inning to cut the deficit in half.
Cade James had an RBI single, Cam Demrow had an RBI on a fielder’s choice, Ryan Trumpy lined a single to score Xander Jacobson, and Graham Miller added an RBI single in the rally.
The Generals had the bases loaded but a fly out ended the rally.
“We had quality at-bats,†Davey said of the four-run inning. “We were trying to make the game competitive again, but that didn’t last very long.â€
ASHORE scored three times in the bottom of the fifth and ended the game with three more in the sixth.
“It was uncharacteristic for us to have back-to-back defensive games of that nature, but that is what happened,†Davey said. “Our pitching tonight was not effective enough to keep that team in check.â€
Miller led Janesville’s 10-hit offense going 3-for-3. James and Eli Mosley each had two hits. Trumpy, Colton Lund, Russell Tourdot each added one a hit.
Players from two counties and eight towns or cities comprise the New Jersey squad who will face Hawaii on Saturday morning for the 13U World Series title. The forecast for inclement weather forced tournament officials to cancel the scheduled third-place game that would have pitted Janesville against Tallahassee, Florida.
Janesville will finish third in the Series and with a 39-15-3 overall mark for the summer. The Generals lost to the two finalists.
“We got to represent Janesville,†Davey said. “We got to represent Wisconsin, and we got to represent the Ohio Valley and we finished third in the nation.
“We had opportunities in our two losses,†Davey said. “Unfortunately, we allowed them to take us out of the competitive phase of the game too early in both of those games.â€