Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Bronze is okay, but WR North looks to move up

Little Leaguers play hard on the weekend

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The Wood River North 11-12 Little League baseball team is proud of its back-to-back bronze-medal efforts in the Salmon and Payette tournaments the past two weekends.

But head coach Ron Stewart and his WR North boys will try to improve from its third places in Salmon and Payette, to second or first place during this weekend’s Ray Nelson Invitational tournament in Hailey.

Playing seven games over two days in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees at Payette, WR North went 5-2 and won Saturday’s consolation final by a 14-6 score over Eagle for third-place hardware. Five-run first and third innings propelled Hailey to the victory.

Top hitters for WR North in the 14-6 consolation victory over Eagle were Mason Kluge, Nick Crosby, Greg Wakefield, Keven Abbott, Tanner Sanders, Kenny Ballou, Jimmy Hague and Juan Martinez.

In other games at Payette:

WR North shut out Eagle 10-0 with pitchers Davis Hague and Keven Abbott giving up just three hits. Mason Kluge went 3-for-3 for the winners.

After a tough 2-1 loss to Snake River Valley, WR North played their first night game and whipped Ontario 14-6. Kluge had a double and Abbott, Martinez, Jimmy Hague and Davis Hague each had two hits. Pitchers Kenny Ballou and Abbott got the mound victory.

Pitcher Tanner Sanders yielded just two hits in a 21-1 shelling of Emmett. Ballou went 3-for-3 (HR, double) while Abbott was 4-for-4 (triple, double). Tyler Peters had a triple and Alex Padilla hit a double.

In the semi-final WR North trailed the Fruitland Young Guns 6-3. Wood River mounted the comeback with Ballou's triple and Kluge's double in the fifth, but it wasn’t enough and the North boys lost their bid to make the championship 6-5.

Over the July 9-10 weekend at Salmon, Wood River posted a 3-2 record for third place. Wood River North beat Bonneville 4-3, Upper Valley 4-1 and Northeast 6-5, and lost to Malad 11-9 and Falls Valley 4-2.

Pitchers Davis Hague and Ballou held Bonneville down in the 4-3 triumph. Against Upper Valley, Kluge, Jimmy Hague and Wakefield held UV to two hits. Abbott stroked two doubles while Chance McCroskey and Ballou added doubles.

Wood River’s 6-5 extra inning victory over Northeast at the Salmon tournament was a thriller. The North boys, behind 5-2, tied it with a three-run inning. Then Crosby’s walk-off double won the game 6-5. Pitchers Davis Hague, Ballou and Wakefield racked up seven whiffs for Wood River.

The team is grateful for its sponsors including Pepsi, Espinoza Flooring, Power Engineers, Stewart Hardwood Floors and Rocky Mountain Hardware.

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