U14 All-Stars are back-to-back state champs

The 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.

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

Glacier knocked off the Bitterroot All-Stars 7-5 in the U14 championship game in Hamilton 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,” Wetsch said. “That’s what got us through the tournament.”

Glacier rolled through pool play, topping Lewistown 8-6 and Kalispell twice, 9-5 and 8-5, to set up a semi-finals showdown with Bitterroot, winning 16-4. The entire lineup hit the ball well in the semi-final win, while Parker and Sapa were on target from the mound.

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

Bitterroot scratched their way back into the finals by beating Kalispell but needed 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 tied it up 5-5 in the sixth. It would come down to key defensive plays in the end and two Glacier runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 7-5 lead going into the final frame.

“It’s tough to play the same team three times in a row,” Wetsch said. “They know you by then, and you know them.”

The Glacier U14 All-Stars traveled to The Dalles, Ore., for the regional tourney starting July 31. They took third place in the tourney last year.