With end in sight, Tropics win Babe Ruth World Series on home turf

The Alabama Rawdogs, fresh off losing six key players due to an age rule, adopted the "us against the world" mantra going into the bracket portion of the Babe Ruth World Series.

They were right.

The World Series rematch felt so much different this year because the controversy made the Rawdogs the villain of the tournament and the Tropics the heroes. Players from Canada, Australia and Washington surrounded the first base dugout and cheered on the Tropics through the final innings.

"There was some stuff that went on that kind of fueled that fire," Tropics catcher Trey Benthal said. "It felt great that we had a lot of people on our side, and I'm glad we played good in front of them."

Once the Tropics secured a 3-2 win to take the title, every player from the other teams quickly joined in their celebration on the mound.

“You get to celebrate with what feels like the entire country,” Tropics shortstop Mason Adams said. “It’s a great feeling.”

Kolton Payne went the distance and gave up only two runs with five strikeouts in seven innings. The Tropics took advantage of the Rawdogs three errors to score three runs in the third and fourth innings.

Adams batted .300 with four RBI and scored seven runs on his way to being named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

“There's a lot of work in the dark that me and a lot of my friends put in,” Adams said. “It says it's only for me but the team just played out phenomenal tonight.”

Tropics manager Dustin Schwartz started the program back when he was college student at Southeast Missouri State University. After multiple recent World Series appearances and now a championship won at home, the program’s run ends on 2024.

“My wife and I are thinking of starting a family soon,” Schwartz said. “It’s going to be hard for me to leave these guys behind. They are my family.”

Upon starting the Tropics, Schwartz had no idea how successful the program would become.

“We were just based off a Will Ferrell movie,” Schwartz said. “We were just a bunch of guys with goofy colors, a goofy name and we loved to play baseball. I didn’t think it would get this far.”

Luke Barnes, ending his second and final year with the Tropics, said he has loved every opportunity he’s had with them.

“It’s pretty special to be a part of,” Barnes said. “I’ve gotten friendships that will last forever.”

Barnes’ teammate Steven Henley has also capped his last year with the Tropics as a champion.

“It’s been a good program to be a part of,” Henley said. “I’ve made a lot of friendships and Schwartz runs the program well.”

Henley decided to join the Tropics after getting a text from Schwartz about coming to play for him.

“I had a lot of teams want me but a lot of my buddies were playing for the Tropics,” Henley said. “Knowing people here definitely made the adjustment a lot easier.”

Henley said the thing that has stuck with him the most is seeing how Schwartz always has their backs.

“He got thrown out a lot last year,” Henley joked. “I know they have our backs. It’s been a good ride so far.”

Tryouts for the final season will be held on Sept. 2 at Kelly High School. Although most of the current roster is expected to return for one more run.

“We're gonna have a lot of momentum going into it,” Adams said. “A lot of these guys are coming back. I've had a great bond with most of these guys. We're mostly like a family and it's going to be nice coming back here and trying to repeat what we did this year.”