Hughesville Travelers baseball team co-manager/player Matt Balliet doesn’t have to say he loves baseball. He doesn’t have to say how proud he is of the team. He just has to tell the story of the champs.

On Saturday, August 14, The Travelers met The Berwick Blue Sox in Berwick for a “best-of-three” championship playoff. The Travelers took the first two games, 3-1 and 7-2 to win the North Branch Baseball League trophy for the sixth time since 2013. No third game was needed for this caliber of play.

How did it all come together? “For one thing,” Balliet says, “we focused on changing our approach at the plate for this series. We won the first game with that focus, and in the second game, we jumped right in and scored four runs in the first inning. That really shut Berwick down! We pitched Ryan Wyland, who gave up no hits through the first four innings. Joel Verrico came in then and struck out the side. And our closer, Owen Berry, shut them down to finish the game. We put ’em away early!”

Balliet praised Kelly Holdren, who threw 109 pitches in game one and also played outstanding defense. That praise extended to the whole team. “They’re just a great group of guys,” he said. Thirty-two guys on the team–they’re so unselfish, they love the game, they play solid baseball–and that’s the reason we win.”

Balliet explains that they have a strong core of players who have been around for a while and some younger ones off Hughesville’s winning varsity team. The team also includes a few players from Montoursville, Williamsport, Loyalsock and Millville. “Ethan Showers, my co-manager, is the rock of the team,” Balliet says. “He had a sad family matter on Saturday, but still came later to Game One and pinch-hit a homerun to put us ahead in overtime.”

He also praised Ryan McClain, who has played with the team since he was 16. “A dynamic center-fielder, covers so much ground, and a great offensive player. Mike Laychur lived in Virginia for the past two seasons and drove up every weekend to play in the games. Christian Fish just loves to catch! He’s a Hoover Vacuum behind the plate. Zach Fry had a great high school career, joined us this past year. He’s so helpful and brings a different ‘happy-go-lucky’ element to the team.”

Hitters in Game one included Burger, 2 for 4; Fish, 2 for 3; McClain, 1 for 4; Berry, 1 for 3; and Showers, HR. In Game two: Showers was 3 for 3; Laychur and Wyland, 1 for 2; Gray, 1 for 1; and McClain, 1 for 3, with 3 RBI’s.

Balliet is a sales manager for Scott’s Miracle-Gro Lawn Care Products. He is the assistant varsity baseball coach at East Lycoming Schools. Showers teaches and is a trainer at Montoursville High School. Balliet took over the Travelers in 2012, but moved out of the area for three years, so Showers ran the team from 2015-2018. Since that time, they’ve co-managed.

North Branch baseball is semi-pro, amateur-league, wooden bat league.

TRAVELER’S TEAM ROSTER:

Hughesville Grads

#30 Mike Shipman ’98

#6 Mike Earnest ’00, Lebanon Valley College ’04

#14 Mike Laychur ’05, Lehigh University ’09

#20 Matt Balliet ’08, Penn State Altoona ’10, PSU Club Team ’12

#7 Ethan Showers ’11, Pitt-Bradford ’15

#11 Christian Fish ’15, Mansfield University ’19 (Sprint Football)

#25 Avery Eddy ’16, Lock Haven University ’20

#21 Zach Fry ’16, University of Indianapolis (Wrestling) ’20

#3 Ryan McClain ’17, Juniata College ’21

#12 Carter Marquadt ’18

#15 Jaret Stroup ’19, Penn College ’22

#5 Jacob Corson ’20, Bucknell ’24

#4 Ian Gagliano ’20, Penn College ’24

#16 Chance Webb ’20, Penn College ’24

#13 Brock Stroup ’20

#10 Devin Maciejewski ’20, King’s College ’24

#1 Devin Swank ’21, Lock Haven University (Medical Redshirt/Torn Labrum) ’25

#35 Jed Webb ’23

#33 Austin Gray 23′

#23 Coen Riegner 23′

#9 Jackson Bower 23′

Montoursville Grads

#27 Joel Verrico ’20, Penn College ’24

#26 Josh Burger ’21, Misericordia University ’25

Loyalsock Grads

#24 Ryan Wyland ’03, Mansfield ’07

#8 Eric “Spike” Holz ’18, Wilson College ’22

Millville Grad

#2 Kelly Holdren ’17, Elizabethtown ’21, Bloomsburg University ’22

Williamsport Grads

#34 Evan Steele ’16, East Stroudsburg University ’18

#0 Owen Berry ’22 Williamsport, Lebanon Valley College ’26