Ronan Mariners win Mission Valley Babe Ruth tourney

After four days of competition, the Ronan Mariners emerged as the champions of the annual Mission Valley Babe Ruth tournament, beating the city rival Ronan Reds 15-5 on Sunday. Both teams were in the top half of the eight Mission Valley teams going into the tournament, but had to navigate through a field of teams from Polson, Mission, Arlee and Plains.

"We came in as the team everyone wanted to beat," said head coach Cal Hardy, "and we played solid throughout the whole tournament."

The Ronan Mariners began the tournament as the top seed, featuring an impressive 13-1 overall record during the regular season.

Their first game came against the Arlee Warriors, a fairly young team and the Mariners won via the 10-run rule 19-9. Levi Burland started the game on the mound and pitched well.

The second win for the Mariners came over the Polson Pirates 14-3. Matt Detwiler and Jay Sorrell, two of the Mariners top pitchers, kept the Pirate bats quiet while the offense racked up 14 runs. "We had solid hitting against Polson," noted Hardy.

As the tournament moved to O'Maley field in Polson, the Mariners took on the Ronan Reds in the tournament's semi-final. The Mariners prevailed in a close game 12-8.

"We were ahead in that game for most of the way, but we gave up a few in the last inning," explained Hardy.

But the Reds were not through, and, as it was double-elimination tournament, the Reds fought back through the losers bracket and earned another shot at the Mariners in the championship game on Sunday. During the regular season, every single game played between the two teams was decided by one run, including one game determined by a sucide squeeze bunt in the bottom of the seventh, with two outs.

"They're a young, but very impressive team," said Hardy of the Reds. "They were one of the teams we were worried about."

And early on, the Mariners had plenty to worry about, as the Reds took a 2-1 lead after the first inning. But eventually Matt Detwiler, who started the game, settled down and the Mariner bats came to life. After a few good innings the Mariners pulled out a 15-5 lead that gave them the championship.

"I was happy with how our guys played," said Hardy. "We got a little better every time we played them."

Now that the regular season is over, all-star teams will be put together from the eight teams. There will be separate all-star teams for the 13, 14 and 15-year-olds.

Hardy and fellow coach Rick Kiehn will head up the 15-year-old team and will play at districts July 13th in Kalispell.