U14 All-Stars back-to-back state champs

Glacier U14 All-Stars have counted on their big bats all season — but it was team defense that earned them this year’s Babe Ruth state baseball championship.

Glacier knocked off the Bitterroot All-Stars 7-5 in the U14 championship game in Hamilton last weekend to earn their second consecutive state title. The team won the Babe Ruth U13 state title in 2011.

“We stepped up as a team and played together,” Glacier coach Brent Wetsch said. “That’s what got us through the tournament.”

Glacier rolled through pool play, topping Lewistown 8-6 and Kalispell 9-5.

In the double-elimination bracket, Glacier again beat Kalispell 8-5 to set up a semi-finals showdown with the Bitterroot All-Stars.

Glacier flexed their strength in the semis with a 16-4 win. The entire lineup hit the ball well, while pitchers Colten Parker and Jonny Sapa were on target from the mound.

“They couldn’t hit us,” Wetsch said. “Out bats were finally hitting the gaps. It was a really good game for us.”

The win put Glacier in the finals.

Bitterroot scratched their way back into the finals by beating Kalispell, but would have to beat Glacier twice to win the state title.

Bitterroot made it interesting by winning the first game 6-4.

“It was a tight game,” Wetsch said. “We left the bases loaded a few times. In the sixth inning with guys on base we just couldn’t get them home.”

The loss set up a winner-take-all title game.

Glacier went up 4-0 in the first inning, but Bitterroot came back to tie it up 5-5 in the sixth. It would come down to key defensive plays in the end.

Jesse Walburn gave Glacier the spark they needed when he made an incredible sliding snag in left field for a key out.

“I don’t know how he got his glove under the ball, but he did,” Wetsch said.

Glacier came out and tacked on two runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 7-5 lead going into the final frame.

With Bitterroot threatening in the seventh, Luke May slide on his knees to knock down a check-swing hit and tossed the ball to AJ Wetsch for the final out of the game.

“It’s tough to play the same team three times in a row,” Wetsch said about their run through the tourney. “They know you by then, and you know them. It’s makes for good ball games though.”

Glacier goes on to the regional tourney in The Dalles, Ore., where play begins July 31.

“We’ll be facing the best in the Northwest,” Wetsch said.

The team took third in the tourney last year.

Team members are Luke May, Matt LaGrandeur, Chris Park, Ty Murphy, Brooks Krause, Jesse Walburn, AJ Wetsch, Colten Parker, Greyson Bistodeau, Jonny Sapa, Tristin Steinwand, Jed Nagler, and Coaches Brent Wetsch, Eric May and Blair LaGrandeur.