Whitefish edges Kennewick in Cal Ripken regional opener

WHITEFISH — Whitefish beat the Kennewick Nationals 7-6 on Wednesday night to wrap up Day 1 of pool play at the 12U Major70 Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament at Smith Fields.

The win places Whitefish, the tournament host, in second place in the American Division with three days of pool play remaining. The top two teams in the American and National divisions will advance to a four-team, single-elimination bracket, with the winner claiming the regional championship and earning a bid to the Cal Ripken World Series on Aug. 3-10 in Branson, Missouri,

Whitefish is scheduled to play Lynden, representing Northern Washington, at 11:30 a.m. today.

Lynden kicked off its pool play with a bang Wednesday, winning 10-0 over Glendive, the Eastern Montana champion. Lynden currently is first in the American Division.

Meridian, the Idaho champion, leads the National Division after the first day thanks to a 15-0 win over the Douglas Diamond Cats, the champs from Wyoming.

After facing Lynden today, Whitefish will take on Glendive on Friday before concluding its slate of games in pool play with a matchup against West Linn, the Northern Oregon champion, on Saturday.

All three championship bracket games will be played on Sunday, with the championship game kicking off at 3 p.m.

Cal Ripken 12U Major70 Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament

Pool Play

Standings after Wednesday play

AMERICAN

W L T RD RS RA

Lynden (Wash.) 1 0 0 10 10 0

Whitefish 1 0 0 1 7 6

West Linn (Ore.) 1 0 0 1 6 5

Glendive (Mont.) 0 1 0 -10 0 -10

Kennewick (Wash.) 0 2 0 -2 11 13

NATIONAL

W L T RD RS RA

Meridian (Idaho) 1 0 0 10 15 0

Willamette Vly (Ore.) 1 0 0 1 7 6

North Valley (Mont) 0 0 0 0 0 0

Nampa (Idaho) 0 1 0 -1 6 7

Douglas (Wyo.) 0 1 0 -10 0 15