Steamboat Pilot & Today

The Expos, Pirates and Rockies all earned tournament titles last week when the Little League baseball season in Steamboat Springs came to an end.

"As a coach in Little League, we would love to get to the end of the season and have every team finish with the same .500 record," said Travis Holmquist, president of the Steamboat Springs Little League. "That way, it would prove that our leagues are all very competitive."

Although that wasn't the case in Steamboat Little League this season, the end-of-season tournaments that took place last week at Emerald Park certainly were competitive.

In the senior league playoffs, the regular season champion Dodgers (10-2) learned that nothing is guaranteed in sports.

The Dodgers were in a solid position after defeating the Yankees and the Expos to advance to the championship game in the double-elimination tournament.

The Dodgers had a chance to sweep the regular season and tournament titles with a second win against the Expos on Sunday but failed to close the door and lost, 13-10.

Then, on Monday, the Expos beat the Dodgers, who were missing several key players, in a lopsided 18-3 game to take the title.

"The Dodgers were the best team all season," said Andy Hogrefe, Little League vice president. "But I guess that's why we play the games."

The Rockies and the Pirates have led the pack in the major league all season. The two teams finished with identical 10-4 records, but the Rockies earned the regular-season trophy thanks to the teams' head-to-head records.

In the tournament, which was played July 28 and 30, the two teams crossed paths, making for one of the best-played games of the year.

Seven hits helped the Pirates score the only run they needed to win in the first inning of the championship contest.

Alex Estes protected the lead by keeping the Rockies from getting a hit and allowing only three runners to reach base for the rest of the 1-0 game.

The Marlins, who finished in last place in the regular season standings, also found a reason to celebrate in the post season tournament. They beat the Red Sox in the game for third place.

In the minors, the Phillies went 10-2-1 in the regular season to edge the Cubs, who were 8-5-1 for this year's best record. But neither team advanced to tournament championship game last week

The third-place Rockies (8-5) defeated the Cardinals (5-8-1) in the championship game by a single run. The Cardinals placed fourth in the regular season, followed by the Yankees and the Athletics.

Holmquist said 180 players took part in this year's Steamboat Springs Little League. There were six minor league teams, four teams in the major league and three in the senior league.

"The number of players in the league has been fairly steady the past couple of years," Holmquist said. "We are hoping to add another senior league team next year, but it's still too early to predict if that will happen."