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Bridger Staples throws a pitch for Optimist in the Babe Ruth city championship game Saturday at Legion Field. Optimist beat Lions twice to win the city title.
Joey Bender takes a swing during the Babe Ruth championship game.
Ethan Carslon smacks a ball during the Bae Ruth city championship game.
Hunter Lovenguth rounds third during the Babe Ruth city championship game.
Quinn Reno follows through during the Babe Ruth city championship game.
The Optimist team poses for a photo after winning the Havre Youth Baseball Babe Ruth city championship Saturday at Legion Field. Optomist beat Lions twice to claim the title.
Lions poses for a photo after finishing second in the Bae Ruth city tournament Saturday at Legion Field.
Every year, it seems like the Babe Ruth city youth baseball championship takes two games to decide and this season, it was no different.
The tournament got underway Monday, with all games being played at Legion Field, but by the time Friday's championship rolled around, only two teams were left standing: Optimist and Lions.
Lions was the undefeated team in the tournament, which uses a double-elimination format, so for Optimist to take home the title, it would need to win consecutive games over Lions to do so. And in the end, that's exactly what Optimist did, beating Lions 4-1 Friday to force a second championship game, which Optimist won 6-4 to win the city's Babe Ruth crown.
In the first championship game Friday night, the score was 0-0 in the fourth inning, when Tavish McLean doubled in a run. That led two more runs to score and after four innings, Optimist led 3-0. The lead eventually become 4-0 in the fifth inning and some nice defense, including a double play turned by pitcher Jake Huston, helped preserve a 4-1 win, forcing a sudden-death showdown for the city title Saturday.
After struggling to score Friday, Lions got three quick runs in the second game Saturday, going ahead 3-0 when a sacrifice fly from Quinn Reno scored a run in the top of the second. Yet, in the bottom of the third, John Smith drilled a base knock that scored two runs and tied the game at 3-3. In the bottom of the fifth, Reese Bulkey broke the tie with an RBI single. Another from Huston in the same inning, made it 5-3.
Ethan Carlson found his way across the plate in the top of the sixth for Lions, but an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning, helped Optimist go up 6-4, which ended up as the final score.
Optimist, in addition to Smith and Bulkey, had Eli Cloninger, Callon Gobin, Huston, Tyrel Kjersem, McLean, Collin Miller, Leyton Shennum and Bridger Staples all contributing en route to the title, while its opponent, Lions featured a roster that includes Reno, Carlson, Joey Bender, Colby Lammers, Hunter Lovenguth, Tanner Parsons, Taylor Parsons, Theron Peterson, Xavier Ulano and Hunter Velk.
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