Even a battle tank runs out of fuel at some point.

After a season in which the Virginia Generals 11U and 12U baseball teams both finished in third place at Memorial Day tournaments in Allentown, Penn. among other accomplishments, summer ball for those squads finally came to a close at home in Manassas this past weekend. The younger boys ended up 3-1 this weekend at the Greater Manassas Baseball League field near Godwin Drive while the 12U team ended up 2-2. Both squads played one year up.

"We've been going pretty hard since January and this was kind of the last hurrah," said Jay Shepard, manager of the 12U team who is deeply involved with the organization. "It just seemed like the light switch started going out on guys."

Shepard compared the Generals' play to that of the Battlefield HS varsity team from this past year, which found itself consistently on the tough side of one-run affairs.

"It's not that we're playing badly," said Shepard. "Sometimes it just seems like we're playing on the wrong side of it."

That went for the heat too. Catchers Tyler Fetheroff of Fauquier, Ryan Sanders of Bristow and Nick Spencer of Woodbridge rotated innings behind the plate during July to make sure they weren't overexerted in 100-plus degree days, according to Shepard.

"We actually do okay" when it's hot, said the 21-year U.S. Army veteran Shepard. He explained that his time in the military taught him about properly regimenting activities, which he relayed onto the ball field during practices and games this summer by having regularly-scheduled water breaks.

"We force them to drink at periodic times," said Shepard. "A lot of teams out there were losing kids, kids were getting sick.... And we didn't have any problems like those with our teams."

Shepard said with a chuckle that even when his players would tell him they already drank moments earlier, he'd reply, "You're going to do it right here in front of me, right now."

Meanwhile, the 9U program has one more weekend of games ahead of it before hanging up the cleats for the dog days of August. They're competing at a super regional-like tournament in Allentown, Penn. called the Elite Championship Tournament Baseball championship, facing off against groups from New York City to Florida.

"They're the best team we've ever formed," said Shepard of the Generals' 9U players.

He particularly lauded pitcher Ethan Laird of Manassas, who's been playing travel ball since age 7.

"This kid throws like a 10- or 11-year-old. He doesn't throw as hard as our 11 or 12 year olds," said Shepard, "but he hits his spots."

According to the manager, Laird's utilizes pitch placement to his benefit as he's not stuck a location the rut that, perhaps, other youth pitchers may become tangled in as they learn the game.

Helping out Laird in the field and at the plate, teammates William Balkin and Tanner Brown were consistently in charge of unofficial leadership positions, such as being the batter who gets on base or being counted on to make plays out in the field.

Balkin became "one of the guys" his teammates "rely on to really bang (RBIs) across," said Shepard. Brown, a future Brentsville District HS Tiger, showcased an "uncanny ability knack for knowing the angle of the baseball" out in the field.

"If there's a ball hit in his general direction, he's going to be around it," said Shepard.

Being sure to note that the current team's parents are not a problem, Shepard said the only thing that what often causes the biggest problems for great youth squads is not a dearth of talent but when parents decide to move, relocate, or pull their kids away from the sport.

"Baseball was made for kids and parents only get in the way," he said. "You never know, if they could just keep going with the (team) they've got, they're going to be at that (next) level. They can do what our former 10U team did."

After this weekend, the Generals will be officially off from the organization for a couple of weeks before training begins for the fall season. That's when Shepard expects his current 9U roster of players to shine in a manner similar to the 2009 10U team that earned a No. 1 ranking in the entire country last year.

"They haven't walked on (a) field where they feel they weren't as good or better as the other team," said Shepard.