Glacier U13 Babe Ruth takes state
<p>Front row, from left: coach Dave Wick, Marty Anderson, coach Shane Bridwell, Grace Porterfield, Murphy Wick, Trey Gates, Kaleb Gravelin, James Sampson-Keck, Bryce Fagerland, Trevor Hoerner; back row: Coach Sonny Johnson, Zak Karlin, Jared Reynolds, Dakota Bridwell, Derek Kastella, Dan Seymour, head coach Davin Kastella.</p>
The Glacier U13 All Star Babe Ruth team won the state championship July 15. The team beat Kalispell twice to win the double-elimination tournament, both times by an 8-7 margin, said coach Davin Kastella.
In the final game, Glacier was down 7-3 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, but they rallied with five runs to secure the state title.
It was a long drive to beat Kalispell — the tournament was held in Glendive.
Now the team travels to Meridian, Idaho for the regional tournament that starts Wednesday. If they can win that tourney, they’d go on to the U13 Babe Ruth World Series, in Kitsap, Wash., Kastella noted. The Glacier team is made up of seven players from Columbia Falls and six players from Whitefish.
They went 4-0 at the state tournament. Last week the team had celebratory rides through town in fire trucks in both Whitefish and Columbia Falls.