Wells Fargo claims city Babe Ruth crown

It's never easy to beat a team twice in two days, especially when playing for a championship. But, that is exactly what the Wells Fargo team did in the Havre Youth Baseball Association's Babe Ruth tournament.

Wells Fargo and the team representing Optimist Park, squared off in back-to-back games at Legion Field to decide the Babe Ruth championship series. And after losing to Optimist earlier in the tournament, Wells Fargo rebounded to defeat Optimist 9-1 Wednesday and 11-10 Thursday to capture the Babe Ruth title.

The Wells Fargo team consisted of Kaiden Anez, James Christianson, Austin Delarosa, Chad Donaldson, Brendan Garden, Wyatt Johnson, Brady Ophus, Cameron Pleninger, Quinn Reno, Trent Shettel, Quinn Springer and Logan Twombly.

Optimist, which ended up finished second in the tournament, featured Tony Antley, Jacoby Fox, Taylor Gopher, Josiah Harrison, Dawson Kinsella, Hunter Lovenguth, Dylan Newburg, Tanner Parsons, Jeremy Pugh, Cody Rennick, Keldon Sullivan and Calvin White.

The Babe Ruth tournament was exciting from start to finish and before Wells Fargo and Optimist met in the championship, they played in the first round when Optimist got the edge thanks to a 12-11 victory. Northern Montana Hospital also got off to a good start with a 13-8 win over Wolfers, but in the second round, Optimist easily dispatched Northern Montana Hospital 10-5 to clinch a spot in the championship game.

On the other hand, after losing to Optimist, Wells Fargo had to go through the loser's bracket to get back to the championship game but earned their way easily after dominating Wolfers 15-5 and Northern Montana Hospital 19-4 to play their way into the title game.

Then, on Wednesday night in the first game of the Babe Ruth championship, Wells Fargo continued its strong play. Anez pitched a stellar game and allowed just one run over the course of seven innings. Wells Fargo then scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning, before adding four more in the top of the fifth to grab a 7-0 lead. Antley provided a momentary spark for Optimist after belting a single and later scoring on a passed ball, but two insurance runs in the top of the seventh ended any comeback hopes for Optimist, and Wells Fargo wrapped up a 9-1 win.

With the victory, Wells Fargo forced a second and final game to decide the championship, which took place Thursday night at Legion. After starting slowly on Tuesday, Optimist came out hot and scored three runs in the top of the first inning, two of them coming on a two-run double by Sullivan. Yet, Wells Fargo answered with four runs in the bottom of the first to grab a 4-3 lead.

Then, in the bottom of the second, still leading 4-3, Wells Fargo added four more runs and following an RBI single by Ophus, the lead was 8-3. However, the game was far from over and after plating a run in the top of the third and two more in the top of the fourth, Wells Fargo had shrunk the advantage down to two at 8-6.

Wells Fargo answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 10-6, but Lovenguth singled to score a run in the top of the fifth to get Optimist within three at 10-7. Entering the bottom of the sixth, Wells Fargo again led by four at 11-7, but Optimist had a rally up its sleeve and it all started with an RBI single from Antley.

After bringing in a run, Antley and another Optimist player scored on a two-run throwing error and suddenly the Wells Fargo lead had been trimmed to just one at 11-10. After holding Wells Fargo scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, Parsons reached base for Optimist, putting the game-tying run on first. Yet, Anez, who came in as a relief pitcher for Wells Fargo, struck out the final batter, leaving Parsons stranded at first and closing out the win for Wells Fargo.