Mission Valley Rockies flourish

Led by a veteran squad consisting of 11 senior-level Babe Ruth players, the Mission Valley Rockies have flourished in the first 15 games this season.

Rockies manager Alan Anderson felt his team, which has a 9-4 record as of press time, has made progress.

“I think we’ve made darn good progress and no team is perfect, but we’ve had a pretty good season,” Anderson said. “Our team is coming together well, and we look forward to the home stretch.”

The Rockies, who will host Great Falls and the Clark Fork Valley Cougs for a doubleheader Saturday and Sunday in Ronan, are looking forward to playing at home after playing the majority of their 13 games on the road.

Anderson, who is also the President of the Babe Ruth League, felt his team played loud but still has room to grow as they close in on the mid-way point of the Rockies’ schedule.

“We have room for improvement, and we just have to stay consistent in our hitting,” Anderson said. “Right now, we are hitting the ball well, and we are hitting the ball consistently. Our defense has played pretty solid, and that is something that we’re expected to play clean as well.”

Anderson hopes his team can maintain their level of consistency that allowed them to win nine of their first 13 games played.

The Rockies, who will head into the Babe Ruth state playoffs in over a month, will have a chance to define themselves further. The Rockies have already bought into Anderson’s approach, and now many of the players, who’ve been coached under Anderson for several years, will have a chance to make the Babe Ruth playoff their showcase, but they still have a lot of time to tune up before then.

“We have to continue to play our game,” Anderson said. “We can not let other teams get into our head, and we have to concentrate and play ball. We know we can play. We have to do the same thing over and over, inning after inning, and our players are getting that.”

The Rockies, who have a veteran stocked team which consists of 11 senior Babe Ruth players, hope the experience of several of the members of the team help carry them as they approach the state playoffs, which is set to begin in July.

The team includes Noah Bettencourt, Ashtin Courville, Logan Erickson , Koby Garcia, Aaron Hansen, Willy Lytton, Matson McClure, Billy Palmer, Nic Peterson, Tremayne (Bubba) Redstar, Erik Rodda, Jaryn Tenas, Daniel Kelsch, Bruin Largent, Tucker Lytton, and Jadyn Rodda, are all players looking to make an impact as they prepare to pack a 40-plus game Babe Ruth-sanctioned schedule into June, and July.

The M’s are currently 9-4, as of press time.