Glacier Prep AllStars are District 1 champs

14-15 AllStars take second place

By DAVID ERICKSON

Whitefish Pilot

Both of the local Babe Ruth league baseball clubs are in great shape heading to the state championships this weekend. The Glacier Prep AllStars placed first in the District 1 tournament by going 3-0 over the weekend and beating Kootenai Valley 8-7 in the championship game in eight innings Sunday in Kalispell.

The District 1 Babe Ruth tournament is the first step in a series of tournaments to determine a national champion, according to Dan Blakemore of Glacier Baseball.

The Glacier Prep AllStars started out the tournament by beating Kalispell 7-6 in one extra inning. They then handled Kootenai 9-3 to advance to the championship game, where they again faced a tenacious Kootenai team Sunday night in Kalispell. Eight innings later, the young team finally came out on top 8-7 as district champions.

"We're a super-competitive team," said Glacier Prep coach Chuck Houston. "We're going to be contending for the title at state, and we're never going to let a team blow us out. We've got solid pitching and good hitting."

The Glacier AllStars, the 14-15 year-olds, placed second after losing a meaningless game 1-7 against Kalispell Sunday, having already qualified for state by winning a three-way tie with the Kalispell Royals and Mission Valley. The tie-breaker was runs-allowed, and Glacier's strong pitching and solid defense allowed only five runs in two games.

"We'll fare very well at state," predicted AllStars coach Dan Blakemore. "Our defense was great, our pitching was superb. We've just got to focus on getting our bats going. That's what we'll be doing in practice this week, focusing on hitting. We've got a lot of games to play."

The AllStars travel to Havre to play for the state title this weekend. While the Glacier AllStars will compete in Belgrade.