Plains teams play stellar tournaments

PLAINS – The newly christened Amundson Sports Complex played host to two baseball tournaments over the weekend.

Both the Plains Pirates of the Majors division and the Plains Royals of Babe Ruth competed at the new fields.

The Pirates finished off their undefeated season by finishing first place in their tournament, while the Royals took third in the Babe Ruth tourney.

The two tournaments, marking the end of the season for both the local Majors and Babe Ruth leagues accompanied the official dedication ceremony for the new fields on Saturday morning of Plains Day.

The Majors division tournament was a one-day event.

Baseball games started at 9 a.m. and continued into Saturday evening, with contests occurring on field two at the new sports complex and the softball field at Plains High School.

The Plains Pirates brought an impressive record of 12 wins and 0 losses into the season ending tournament.

The Pirates completed their quest for perfection by notching three wins in their final tournament.

Plains Head Coach John Curry said the team took time before the weekend to prepare for the lengthy tournament.

“We talked to them throughout the week and got them ready,” Curry said.

The coach said how hydration was critical on such a warm day.

“We have them drinking a lot of water,” Curry said.

The Pirates began the day against the Thompson Falls Hawks, in a quick game that only took approximately an hour thanks to the ten run mercy rule.

The final score after four innings of play was Plains 10 and Thompson Falls 0.

Derick Curry pitched a scoreless three innings for the Pirates before handing the ball off to the bullpen.

Jake Zigler ensured the game would not go longer than four innings by holding the Hawks scoreless in the fourth.

D. Curry had seven strikeouts in his three-inning effort.

The Pirates remained hot throughout the day, dropping the Noxon Diamondbacks in the tournament’s semifinal game by a score of 10 to 0.

As was the case for game one, the Pirates second game was shortened to four innings by the 10 run mercy rule.

Pitcher Nathaniel Zigler kept the Diamondbacks off the board with four scoreless innings and nine strikeouts.

The win over Noxon set up a rematch with Thompson Falls for the divisional championship.

The tournament finale was much closer than the Pirates first two games.

Nevertheless, the Pirates found a way to win, edging the Hawks by a score of 5 to 1 and finishing off their 15 and 0 season.

The Pirates ended up scoring all five runs off only two hits as N. Zigler drove in two RBIs, while Esvin Reyes also drove in a run.

D. Curry limited the Hawks to one run in the rematch, going six innings and striking out 13 hitters.

The coach explained his team brought a fresh prospective into the tournament to stay competitive after the long season.

“We came into the tourney as if our record was 0 and 0,” Coach Curry said.

The tournament for Babe Ruth, a league for 13 to 15 year olds, actually took place over the course of four days.

The lowest seeds of the six-team field played opening round games on Thursday, June 5, before the higher seeds opened the competition on Friday, June 6.

The Royals opened the competition against the Mission Valley Pirates at 6 p.m., edging the end of the year Babe Ruth tournament’s defending champions, to set up a match-up with the Ronan Chiefs on Saturday at 3 p.m.

The second seeded Royals fell to the Chiefs, but still had an opportunity to advance to the championship game by winning a rematch with Mission Valley on Sunday at 10 a.m.

The game was a high scoring affair, with Mission Valley beating Plains by a score of 14 to 8.

The visitors from Mission Valley scored two critical insurance runs in the final inning, ensuring an eleventh-hour rally by the Royals fell short.

Nonetheless, the Plains Royals did not go home empty handed; with players receiving medals and a trophy for the team’s third place finish.

Royals Head Coach Corey Ovitt was positive looking back on his team’s year.

“We had a successful season this year, the team played well,” Ovitt said.

Ovitt was impressed with how his young ream remained focused throughout the year.

“We only had two 15 year olds on the team, but they still competed throughout the season,” Ovitt said.

The experienced gained by the 13 and 14 year old Royals this year will be put to use in the coming seasons.