By Steve McCasland
Friday, July 25, 2008 |
Josephine County defeated the South Coast All-Stars baseball team twice on Sunday to repeat as champions of the 13-to-15-year-old Southern Oregon Babe Ruth State Tournament.
Josephine County will move on to compete in the Northwest Regional Babe Ruth Tournament at Lewiston, Idaho, July 27-Aug. 2.
South Coast and Josephine County were joined by Umpqua Valley and Klamath Falls in the three-day state tournament held at Clyde Allen Field in North Bend last weekend.
Coached by Quinten Hall of North Bend and Jim Mack of Bandon, the South Coast squad included players from Bandon — Jimmy Mack and Kaunner Jackson, Port Orford — Mike Bennett, Florence, Coos Bay, North Bend and Myrtle Point. Dan Raybould of Florence managed the team.
Bennett pitched a complete game victory on Friday as South Coast recorded an 11-1, five-inning win over Umpqua Valley to open the tourney.
Jimmy Mack had an outstanding effort the next morning as South Coast sent Josephine County into the loser’s bracket with a 9-8 victory. Jimmy went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double. He also stole two bases, knocked in two runs and scored three times.
“Jimmy had a great game, showed his incredible speed and was completely ‘Mr. Hustle,’ ” Raybould said. “And Kaunner made an outstanding throw to catcher Nic Canady from right field in the top of the seventh inning to gun down the tying run at the plate.”
Going into Sunday’s action with a 2-0 mark, South Coast had reason to be confident. But the local squad fell to the eventual champions twice that day to end its 2008 campaign.
“It was a heartbreaker,” said Raybould. “Josephine County has one heck of a team. We were the only team in last year’s state tournament that they didn’t defeat by the 10-run rule.
“This year, we had a little stronger team and were a bit more balanced. Our kids were so excited with the win on Saturday that you’d have thought we’d won the World Series. At that point we were undefeated and had earned a spot in the championship game. A win in one of the two games on Sunday would have given us a state championship and sent us to Lewiston.”
Unfortunately, South Coast came out a bit flat on Sunday morning and lost to Josephine County by a 6-3 tally.
“We tried hard but made some mistakes that a young ballclub needs to correct,” Raybould said. “Josephine County got a few early runs and made it difficult for us to come back from.”
Facing the same team in the tourney championship game later that day, South Coast made some costly errors and fell by a 9-5 margin.
“We were a little short on pitching and didn’t bring the bats with us, but still were tied at 5-all at the end of five innings,” Raybould said. “We made a couple of errors in the sixth inning that cost us four runs, and we just couldn’t recover. The bottom line is that on Sunday we made a few too many mistakes, otherwise we’d be going to Idaho.”
Raybould added that his team was highly emotional and extremely disappointed to lose twice on Sunday.
“It was really hard for me to see the disappointment in the kids’ eyes,” he said. “These are fantastic young players. Mike and Jimmy just have hearts of gold. They are true grit baseball players and competitors.
“Kudos also to Coach Jim Mack, who is a great role model to the kids. Overall, I think the Babe Ruth baseball program for the South Coast is top-notch, with quality coaches and ballplayers throughout the coast. I think we put ourselves on the map when last year’s state champs had to fight hard to get past us this year, and the ballplayers should be recognized for that.”
|
|
|
|
