It was a summer to remember for the 12 boys that comprised the 2026 Boerne Little League 10-12 Baseball All-Star Team.
Two years after the league made its first trip to the Little League World Series, they earned a trip back to baseball heaven in Williamsport. And, while their experience on-field didn’t go as planned, as they went 0-2, it was still a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the team.
Boerne coach Greg Yost said it was a great experience for him and the team.
“So proud of the fight. The message to the team is that they had a heck of an All-Star season. Had to play baseball from basically June 1 all the way until now. Texas has a long path to get here,” he said. “They fought hard and won a lot of great games, and so I could not be more proud of them for that. And I think they know that.”
Boerne’s run to Williamsport was quite demanding indeed. Their first real bit of adversity was in the Texas West State Tournament when they lost the winner’s bracket final to Lubbock Western. That meant they had to win three games in three days, and did just that, beating Oil Belt and then defeating Lubbock Western twice to capture the Texas West crown.
Then came a regional tournament that was filled with plenty of drama both on the field and off of it. Once again, Boerne found themselves in a hole, as they lost their first game to Texas East champion, Lamar. 10-3.
With their backs against the wall, they beat Mississippi, 10-0, and avenged their loss to Lamar, 3-2. Meanwhile, Tulsa National, who had come through the winner’s bracket unscathed, was disqualified by Little League International over an ineligible player, meaning that what would have been the loser’s bracket final between Boerne and Ascension Parish Little League from Louisiana turned into the Southwest Regional Championship Game. Boerne won that, 4-1, to get to Williamsport.
But, it just wasn’t meant to be in Williamsport. In the two losses, a 4-3 loss to the Northwest representative, Soundview Little League from Tacoma, Washington and a 6-1 loss to the Great Lakes representative, Hamilton West Side Little League from Hamilton, Ohio, Boerne had plenty of traffic on the base paths, but couldn’t quite get that one breakthrough hit. Plus, they faced two lefthanded starting pitchers and hadn’t faced a lefthander at all prior to the Little League World Series.
“I think the frustration came from our inability to drive the ball off a left-handed pitcher, and that was Game 1 and Game 2. We faced zero left-handed pitchers all summer, and we faced two starters that threw a lot of strikes, and we just couldn’t get the job done. So that part is tough,” Coach Yost said. “They put in a right-handed pitcher. I think we only had maybe two hits going into that, and then I think we strung together four hits on the righty. You’d like to think that if we faced righties, that we’d have a better chance for success. But that’s where frustration came from. It’s just these boys are used to driving the ball frequently and hitting it hard.”
Despite not winning a game at this year’s LLWS, Yost said he will have great memories from this summer.
“It was more than once in a lifetime , it was a dream come true,” he said. “It’s a dream many kids have and not many get to experience. I’m just honored to be part of the process.”
Life lessons
Yost said baseball, and sports in general, teaches a lot of life lessons and feels that they learned a lot despite not getting a win.
“Baseball teaches you a ton of life lessons because it doesn’t go your way a lot and you just have to keep at it and never give up,” he said. “Stay committed to the process and work as a team to achieve a goal. You can learn elsewhere but baseball is a great place to learn.”
One lifetime memory the coach will have is getting to coach his son Walker.
“What made it extra special was spending time with my son. I got to coach my son in the process,” he said. “I grew to love all the other 11 players but as a father, to go on a journey with my son, you can’t put words on it.”
Boerne All-Star team members this year were Kase Yarbrough, Walker Yost, Merritt Cude, Case Greco, Chandler Schramek, Carson Patrick, Kasen Martinez, Preston Baird, Anders Paulson, Lawson Belden, Lyle Fischer and Boone Blalock. Greg Yost was the manager and was assisted by Josh Cude and Rusty Belden.
Coach Yost said it says something about the baseball being played in Boerne after they won two of the last three Southwest Region titles to advance to the LLWS.
“Boerne is a baseball town, no doubt about it,” he said. “The kids in this community love it and are really good at it. I would say the foundation is there and it’s not going away anytime soon.”
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