Staff photo / Joel Whetzel Astro Falcons/Youngstown manager Don Pletcher (center, white jersey) high-fives players as they come off the field during a recent game. Pletcher will lead a Youngstown team into the Palomino World Series beginning Friday.

STRUTHERS — Don Pletcher is no stranger to this stage, and neither is the Mahoning Valley.

Youngstown once again will be represented in the Palomino World Series, the 18U division of PONY baseball, a tournament in which Youngstown has seen plenty of success in recent years.

In the past four years, Youngstown has clinched a title (2021), been runner-up once and third place twice, noted Pletcher, the team’s manager who coaches Class B’s Astro Falcons during the summer league season.

The Astro Falcons won the Class B regular and postseason and then took home the Palomino East Regional to earn the right to represent the Mahoning Valley as they head to Laredo, Texas, for the World Series.

The regional round included Pittsburgh and Cleveland-area teams.

Youngstown begins play Friday against Palmview, Texas. First pitch is set for 9:30 p.m.

“We’ve just got good players who like to compete,” Pletcher said. “Youngstown used to go down there and never win a game, (or win) one game at the most. But in the last four years, we’ve been a runner-up once, third place twice and we were champs two years ago. The kids like playing. Our league is nice, but once you get down there you’re playing Chinese Taipei, Puerto Rico, Mexico, California, it’s a little bit different. Most of my kids are Division I commits, so the league is a great league, but they like to turn it up a little bit before they go to college.”

It’s a level of competition with which Pletcher says Youngstown has become comfortable in recent years. Given the runs to the semifinal and championship rounds in the last handful of tournaments, Youngstown believes — knows, even — that it belongs on the stage.

“We’re right there. It’s shown in the last five years. We’re either one, two or three, so when we get down there and play, we don’t take a backseat to anybody. But we also know that if we don’t play our game, we can (lose) two and then we’re on vacation the rest of the time,” Pletcher said.

During the Class B season, the Astro Falcons racked up a gaudy 30-3 record. The team, which includes players from the Valley as well as the general region, was led in part by two Canfield graduates who made the World Series roster — Ben Slanker and AJ Havrilla. Slanker is headed to Ohio University in the fall, while Havrilla is bound for Marshall.

Havrilla points to the roster’s chemistry for its success.

“We have a good dugout this year,” he said. “We’re tight, we’re a close-knit group and we like to have a lot of fun. We come out and perform day in and day out, give it all we have, and it’s been a really fun year.”

Keeping it fun and fresh is something Pletcher emphasizes for his roster, because the majority of players soon will be headed to college and will begin a different experience in the game of baseball.

“When you have 25 D1 kids on your roster, you kind of have to do things differently. My way is, ‘Hey, let them have fun for the summer.’ I sit in the bucket and relax and have as much fun as them, because after Texas, it becomes a job for these guys,” Pletcher said. “But also, they’ve all been trained well enough to know that when we go down there, we’re on a business trip. We’ll go down there and play ball the right way.”

For Slanker, meanwhile, it’s a chance to represent Youngstown on the world stage, something the soon-to-be Bobcat cherishes.

“It means everything,” Slanker siad. “Going all the way to Texas to represent your hometown means a lot, and we’re going to do our best to get some wins and try to come home with a championship.”

For more information on the tournament, visit https://www.palominoworldseries.org/.

jwhetzel@tribtoday.com