Hess listened and handed Damschroder the ball for the 13-16-year-old Mid-Atlantic Regional championship game at Logue Field. And the soon-to-be Williamsport junior never gave it back. With it in his left hand, Damschroder conducted his own personal pitching clinic.

And he helped West End capture another championship.

Damschroder threw a masterful one-hit, 75-pitch shutout, striking out 11 and leading West End to an 8-0 regional title win against Mifflin County. Jaymes Carpenter went 3 for 3, Cade Lusk and Zack Neill each were 2 for 2 and West End scored six second inning runs as it booked a second consecutive trip to Branson, Missouri for the Babe Ruth World Series.

“I was bugging Marc about it all day,” Damschroder said. “It was definitely nice to have the ball, and I felt confident. I felt like I could use all my pitches and put them anywhere I want.”

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent West End's Trey Damschroder throws during the Babe Ruth 13-16 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship game against Mifflin County at Logue Field on Friday, July 18, 2025. West End won 8-0.

Damschroder doing so helped West End complete a dominant run through states and regionals. After bulldozing through five state opponents, 74-5, West End went 5-0 at regionals (one win via forfeit), outscoring those teams, 42-1.

Excelling in those tournaments is nothing new for this group. Williamsport’s Fab 4 quartet of Damschroder, LJ Hill, Jaxson March and Mason Hess won state championships each year in this age group and will be making their third Series appearance as will be Montgomery’s Briar Persing. All the other players except newcomer Isaac Sparks from North Penn-Liberty are headed to Missouri for a second time.

A year after taking fifth in the world, West End heads back and will try and finish what really began three years ago.

“They’re all excited,” Marc Hess said. “You look at what we did, 74-5 in states and 42-1 in regionals, and it’s hard to play a lot better than that. It’s insane. They are absolutely insane numbers.”

Damschroder drove Mifflin County crazy Friday evening.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent West End players return to the dugout after the Babe Ruth 13-16 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship game against Mifflin County at Logue Field on Friday, July 18, 2025. West End won 8-0.

The left-hander struck out 35 batters in 19 1/3 innings last spring at Williamsport. The only issue was 17 walks. Still, Damschroder often excelled in pressure moments with the Millionaires, including at the Backyard Brawl the past two seasons, earning a save and win in the championship game each time.

That toughness remained in another championship Friday, but the pin-point accuracy especially stood out. Using his fastball, curve and a nasty slider, Damschroder threw 58 of his 75 pitches for strikes, walked none and went to a three-ball count just once. Only a Karl Shirey one-out, fourth inning single separated Damschroder from a perfect game.

“That experience helps me stay composed and focused. I’m not worried about what could happen in the game, I’m just focused on the game,” Damschroder said. “When they got that hit, I just forgot about it. I still had the lead and my stuff was working, so you just go from there.”

Before that single, Damschroder retired the first 10 batters he faced. After that single, he shut down the last 11 batters he faced. He is a hard thrower, but Damschroder is a pitcher’s pitcher. He did not overpower Mifflin County as much he out-thought it.

With his off-speed pitches working so well and Damschroder locating them so well, that made the fastball look like it was coming in even harder. Conversely, the speed had Mifflin County out in front when the sweeping curve and slider came their way. That slider was especially lethal with most of Damschroder’s 11 strikeouts coming with that as the out-pitch.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent West End's Briar Persing (17) is tagged out at second by Mifflin County's Jude Zook (25) during the Babe Ruth 13-16 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship game at Logue Field on Friday, July 18, 2025. West End won 8-0.

“Trey has grown so much over the last four years. In the past if he got out at the plate, he might take that out to the mound with him. He doesn’t let that stuff bother him now,” Marc Hess said. “They started chirping and talking and things like that, which I don’t understand because he was dominating, but he’s gotten a lot more mature the last few years and just kept pitching.”

Mifflin County tried talking a good game, but Damschroder pitched a much better one. West End perfectly set up its pitching for the final, winning its first four games without using its two aces, Damschroder and Persing. The original plan for Friday was that Damschroder would start and Persing would close.

But with Damschroder mowing through Mifflin County so efficiently, there was never any need to make that switch. Damschroder threw two seven-pitch innings, an eight-pitch inning and needed just 26 pitches over the final three to finish off Mifflin County, fanning six during that time.

Damschroder emphatically sealed the championship, striking out the side on 12 pitches before the team received its championship banner and jubilant family members took celebration photos.

“Those seven pitch innings and things like that helped me keep my pitch count low and helped me ensure that I could stay out there,” Damschroder said. “I felt good, especially with our hitters doing a good job. They were creating long innings at the plate and allowing me to stay fresh. It was a team effort.”

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent West End's Camden March (3) beats the throw to first during the Babe Ruth 13-16 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship game against Mifflin County at Logue Field on Friday, July 18, 2025. West End won 8-0.

It certainly was. That has been the case all summer and nothing changed Friday.

Nine batters reached base and West End put Mifflin County in a precarious early position when it erupted for six second inning runs, five before the first out was recorded. And even that initial out was a productive one with Hill hitting an RBI grounder.

The first seven batters reached base that inning with Noah Kirby (2 for 3), Carpenter, Nate Crowe, March and Cade Lusk all delivering singles. Carpenter built off his fantastic freshman season for District 4 Class AA champion South Williamsport and brought in Persing with the game’s first run on an RBI single before Crowe, March and Lusk hit three straight run-producing singles, Lusk making it, 5-0 with his two-run scorcher.

The way Damschroder was pitching that six-run deficit might as well have been 60. Still, West End provided more insurance and finished with 13 hits. Camden March ignited a two-run fifth inning rally with a lead-off single before Kirby hit an RBI single and Carpenter belted his third single, an ensuing error bringing in Kirby and making it, 8-0. Only two highlight catches by Mifflin County right fielder Camden Kauffman in the sixth inning prevented Damschroder and Persing from ending the game early with two-run, walk-off hits.

West End will have ample time to prepare and conduct fundraising for another Series appearance at Majestic Park. Its first game comes August 7 in the 20-team tournament, featuring 10 U.S teams and 10 International squads. That layoff meant West End could take some time and savor both its last game at Logue Field this year as well as another championship.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent West End's Jaxson March (2) beats the throw to first during the Babe Ruth 13-16 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship game against Mifflin County at Logue Field on Friday, July 18, 2025. West End won 8-0.

“It was a good way to end things here,” Hess said. “This is our last hurrah playing here at our home field, and everyone played really well.”

Mifflin County 000 000 0―0 1 2

West End 060 020 x―8 13 1

Thad Gerwick and Luke Shawver. Trey Damschroder and Jaxson March. W―Damschroder. L―Gerwick.

Top Mifflin County hitters: Karl Shirey 1-3. Top West End hitters: Jaymes Carpenter 3-3, RBI, R; Cade Lusk 2-2, 2 RBIs; Nack Neill 2-2, BB, R; Noah Kirby 2-3, RBI, 2R; J. March 1-2, BB, RBI, R; Nate Crowe 1-2, RBI, R; Camden March 1-3, R; Briar Persing 1-4, R; LJ Hill, BB, RBI.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent West End's Jaymes Carpenter is tagged out at third by Mifflin County's Landon Rhodes (5) after getting caught in a rundown between third and home during the Babe Ruth 13-16 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship game at Logue Field on Friday, July 18, 2025. West End won 8-0.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent West End players run to the dugout after the Babe Ruth 13-16 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship game against Mifflin County at Logue Field on Friday, July 18, 2025. West End won 8-0.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent West End players return to the dugout after the Babe Ruth 13-16 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship game against Mifflin County at Logue Field on Friday, July 18, 2025. West End won 8-0.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent West End players pose for a team photograph after winning the Babe Ruth 13-16 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship game against Mifflin County at Logue Field on Friday, July 18, 2025. West End won 8-0.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent West End players meet at the mound to start the Babe Ruth 13-16 Mid-Atlantic Regional final game at Logue Field on Friday, July 18, 2025.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent West End’s Trey Damschroder takes the mound to start the Babe Ruth 13-16 Mid-Atlantic Regional final game at Logue Field on Friday, July 18, 2025.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent West End coaches watch from the dugout as Trey Damschroder takes the mound to start the Babe Ruth 13-16 Mid-Atlantic Regional final game at Logue Field on Friday, July 18, 2025.