State Babe Ruth baseball tourneys in Whitefish, C-Falls
The Daily Inter Lake
Babe Ruth baseball state tournaments for 13U, 14U and 15U divisions will begin play on Thursday at Memorial Field in Whitefish and Sapa-Johnsrud Memorial Field in Columbia Falls.
State champions in each division will advance to Pacific Northwest Regional action — 13U in Meridian, Idaho, starting July 18; 14U in Calgary, Alberta, on July 22; and 15U in Kelso, Washington, on July 22. Regional winners move on to the Babe Ruth World Series — 13U is in Mountain Home, Arkansas; U14 in Glen Ellen, Virginia; U15 in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. All three World Series tournament action begins Aug. 10.
Glacier and Kalispell will have teams competing in all three state tournaments, which conclude with championship games on Sunday.
Glacier Babe Ruth is hosting state play and admission is free. Full concessions are at both fields.
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Steve Ontiveros, from Scottsdale, Arizona, will be throwing out the first pitch in Glacier’s U15 opener versus Glendive at Memorial Field in Whitefish at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Ontiveros spent 10 seasons (1985-95) in the majors with Oakland, Philadelphia and Seattle. He had a 34-31 record, 19 saves and an ERA of 3.67. He started 73 games.
He pitched in the 1995 All-Star Game and was the American League ERA leader in 1994.
15U State
All Games at Memorial Field, Whitefish
Pool A — Kalispell, Hi-Line, Belgrade, Miles City
Pool B — Glacier, Glendive, Havre
Thursday’s Schedule
8 a.m. — Kalispell vs. Belgrade
10:30 a.m. — Havre vs. Glendive
1 p.m. — Hi-Line vs. Miles City
3:30 p.m. — Kalispell vs. Hi-Line
6 p.m. — Glacier vs. Glendive.
14U State
All Games at Sapa-Johnsrud Memorial Field, Columbia Falls
Pool — Glacier, Kalispell, Hi-Line
Thursday’s Schedule
1 p.m. — Kalispell vs. Hi-Line
6 p.m. — Hi-Line vs. Glacier
Friday’s Schedule
10:30 a.m. — Glacier vs. Kalispell
13U State
Pool A — Belgrade, Glacier, Miles City
Pool B — Kalispell, Helena, Bozeman, Bitterroot
Thursday’s Schedule
At Sapa-Johnsrud Memorial Field
8 a.m. — Helena vs. Bozeman
10:30 a.m. — Belgrade vs. Miles City
3:30 p.m. — Glacier vs. Miles City
8:30 p.m. — Helena vs. Bitterrot
Memorial Field
8:30 p.m. — Kalispell vs. Bozeman