Archive for Sunday, July 23, 2006

Steamboat Little League squads fall short

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— Two Steamboat Springs Little League all-star teams that had secured District 3 championship titles last week saw their seasons end this weekend.

Steamboat's U-10 and U-11 teams lost both their games Saturday and Sunday, sending each team home from its respective double-elimination state tournament.

After a stunning district championship game against Eagle-Vail that was won on a steal of home plate, coach Stace Toye's U-10 boys couldn't muster the same magic in Grand Junction, where they faced a bracket of Colorado's other three district champions.

Against the Front Range's District 1 champions, Steam--boat's Koby Bishop pitched all six innings of the U-10 team's Saturday game, striking out six and allowing three runs.

"We played great defense and had only one error, but our bats just went cold," Toye said about the Steamboat offense that left runners stranded in scoring position four times.

The team lost the game, 3-1. Steamboat tried to regroup for Sunday's game against Grand Mesa but failed to play with the same defensive prowess.

"It was an error-fest," Toye said.

After keeping it close behind Matthew Regan's clean pitching, Grand Mesa went on an unanswered hitting streak that resulted in a 21-3 win.

"Finishing fourth in state, I think it's cool that a ski town can compete with any of these teams," Toye said. "Everyone was really impressed by our play."

The U-11 boys didn't have much better luck at their tournament in Thornton.

With Ivan Nielsen on the mound, the Saturday game against Monument Little League was deadlocked, 1-1, until the third inning, when Steamboat gave up eight runs, team manager Gil Ramirez said.

"They started to come alive hitting everywhere we weren't," Ramirez said of the game that ended in a 12-2 defeat. "We hung in there and battled."

Sunday's game ended in a similar fashion with Steamboat losing, 13-2, to a skilled Colorado Springs Academy Baseball Club squad.

Ramirez said he was proud to watch his team mature and compete at a higher level of play. He noted the infield play of Bryson Campbell, Sam Harrelson and Jake Miller, who made his first pitching appearance of the season.

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