Playing baseball from dawn to dusk, with umpires no less, is as tantalizing as a medium-speed fastball in the wheelhouse for boys ages 9-12—a dreamy summer activity.
The dream came true for 22 fine Idaho youth baseball teams last weekend at the 39th annual Ray Nelson Invitational tournament held Friday and Saturday at Hailey's Nelson Field.
On a hot, muggy weekend marked by passing storms and occasional lightning, the Wood River All-Star program fielded an unprecedented six teams—three in the 11-12 "Majors" and three in the 9-10 "Minors."
Those local teams won 10 of their 24 games, missing out on the ultimate first-place trophies in 2010 but still coming up with memorable hits, great catches and outstanding plays for the hundreds and hundreds of fans.
Main contender in the "Majors" was Wood River Black coached by Randy Jorgensen, Gunnar Whitehead, Bill Whitehead and Tony Benson.
Placing third of 10 teams in the double elimination tourney, WR Black won its first three games by a combined 32-9 score before losing hard-fought 9-7 and 8-3 games to eventual finalists Nampa Blue and the Mini-Cassia Braves of Rupert.
Nampa Blue nipped Mini-Cassia 5-4 in the title game.
Hitting was a plus for WR Black starting with its 13-2 win over Northside Jerome Friday morning. Wood River (11 hits) had a five-run fourth sparked by a leadoff triple by Nic Tidwell. Jake Jorgensen added a two-run homer in the fifth.
In its second game, WR Black's Brandon Benson (2 hits, 4 RBI) smacked a three-run homer in a 12-5 victory over the East Boise Thunder.
WR Black's final win, 7-2 over eventual runner-up Mini-Cassia, was helped by Reide Whitehead's three-run double in the third for a 4-2 lead. Tidwell (3 hits) provided insurance in the fourth with a two-out RBI double for a 5-2 lead.
Another promising performance, especially on defense, came from Wood River White coached by Terry Wall, Brian Nelson and James Nelson. WR White yielded only 11 runs in four games—a tournament best—and exited bravely with a 1-0 loss to East Boise.
The "Minors" tournament wasn't decided until it was totally dark Saturday night. Opponents in the championship game were the Twin Falls Pioneers and Wood River Green coached by Charlie Dunn, Luke Macdonald and Matt Buxton.
WR Green won its first four games by scores of 10-4, 17-4, 16-1 and 4-2, before dropping an 11-10 decision to Twin Falls and a 13-1 game to the Pioneers in the four-inning deciding contest.
A highlight for WR Green was its well-played 4-2 victory over Twin Falls Pioneers that forced the Pioneers to beat Green twice for the title. Wilson Dunn's single sparked a three-run third then Dunn added a solo homer in the sixth.
Twin Falls pitcher Connor Root tamed WR Green in the decisive game, scattering four hits in three innings of work. The Pioneers scored five runs in the first and blew it wide open with an eight-run third. WR Green settled for second.
Sponsoring the tournament were Splash & Dash, Atkinsons', Uhrig Fencing, Albertsons, Power Engineers and Rocky Mountain Hardware. Tournament director was Mike Brunker. Wood River All-Star director was Andy Portillo.
As always, the Nelson tournament boasted a "Hall of Fame" group of volunteers.
Scorekeepers were Cheryl Kramer, Lori Andrews, Gini Ballou, Sheryl Fullmer, Buffy Brunker, Michal Abbott, Hermie Haavik, John Brashears, Heather Colvin, Bunny Nelson and Bobbie Moore.
Umpires included David Nelson, Chris Benson, Alex Padilla, Trent Seamons, Connor Braatz, Alex Thomas, Nickolaus Brunker, Sean Bunce, John Rathfon, Taz Lyons, Jake Freeman, Kenny Uhrig, Paul Nelson, Tim Boyle, Marshall Reyburn, Ryan Stavros, Kristian Larese, Braxton Parish, Zac Israel, Chris Coupe, Justin Herald, Kenny Nelson, Collin Dean, Jimmy Hague, Tyler Peters, Juan Martinez and Keven Abbott.
Ray Nelson Tournament Results
July 9-10, 2010 at Nelson Field and South Valley Sports Complex softball field, both in Hailey, the 39th annual Little League baseball tournament held in memory of Hailey's Ray Nelson.
MAJOR (11-12) DIVISION
(22 games, 251 runs scored)
TEAM RECORD RUNS RUNS VS.
1—Nampa Blue 4-1 32 27
2—Mini-Cassia Braves 5-2 42 23
Wood River Black 3-2 42 26
Nampa Red 3-2 37 27
Wood River White 2-2 15 11
East Boise Thunder 2-2 13 28
Northside Jerome 1-3 24 23
Twin Falls Patriots 1-3 29 31
Meridian Sabres 1-2 14 13
Wood River East 0-3 3 42
WINNER BRACKET
Wood River White 8, Wood River East 1
Wood River Black 13, Northside Jerome 2
Nampa Blue 10, Twin Falls Patriots 9
Mini-Cassia Braves 12, Nampa Red 5
Wood River White 5, Meridian Sabres 3
Wood River Black 12, East Boise Thunder 5
Nampa Blue 6, Wood River White 2
Wood River Black 7, Mini-Cassia Braves 2
Nampa Blue 9, Wood River Black 7 (winner bracket final)
LOSER BRACKET
Twin Falls Patriots 5, Northside Jerome 2
Nampa Red 16, Wood River East 0
Meridian Sabres 11, Twin Falls Patriots 8
East Boise Thunder 6, Nampa Red 5
Mini-Cassia Braves by forfeit over Meridian Sabres
East Boise 1, Wood River White 0
Mini-Cassia Braves 11, East Boise Thunder 1
Mini-Cassia Braves 8, Wood River Black 3 (loser bracket final)
CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
Mini-Cassia Braves 5, Nampa Blue 2
Nampa Blue 5, Mini-Cassia Braves 4 (tournament championship)
CONSOLATION BRACKET
Northside Jerome 18, Wood River East 2
Nampa Red 8, Twin Falls Patriots 7
Nampa Red 3, Northside Jerome 2 (consolation championship)
MINOR (9-10) DIVISION
(26 games, 429 runs scored)
TEAM RECORD RUNS RUNS VS.
1—Twin Falls Pioneers 6-1 77 26
2—Wood River Green 4-2 58 35
Mini-Cassia Braves 3-2 38 39
Burley Cubs 3-2 30 43
Meridian Thunder 3-2 29 43
Twin Falls Cowboys 2-2 20 22
Northside Jerome 2-2 61 23
Nampa Blue 1-2 19 25
Wood River Gold 1-2 30 18
Mini-Cassia 'Lil Spartans 1-3 33 58
Nampa Red 0-3 24 29
Wood River West 0-3 10 68
WINNER BRACKET GAMES
Mini-Cassia Braves 8. Wood River Gold 7
Wood River Green 10, Twin Falls Cowboys 4
Burley Cubs 7, Nampa Red 5
Twin Falls Pioneers 6, Nampa Blue 4
Meridian Thunder 10, Mini-Cassia Braves 2
Wood River Green 17, Mini-Cassia 'Lil Spartans 4
Burley Cubs 15, Wood River West 5
Twin Falls Pioneers 6, Northside Jerome 2
Wood River Green 16, Meridian Thunder 1
Twin Falls Pioneers 18, Burley Cubs 1
Wood River Green 4, Twin Falls Pioneers 2 (winner bracket final)
LOSER BRACKET GAMES
Mini-Cassia Braves 10, Nampa Red 8
Nampa Blue 8, Mini-Cassia 'Lil Spartans 7
Wood River Gold 20, Wood River West 3
Twin Falls Cowboys 5, Northside Jerome 4
Mini-Cassia Braves 12, Nampa Blue 7
Twin Falls Cowboys 7, Wood River Gold 3
Burley Cubs 7, Mini-Cassia Braves 6
Meridian Thunder 5, Twin Falls Cowboys 4
Meridian Thunder 9, Burley Cubs 0
Twin Falls Pioneers 21, Meridian Thunder 4 (loser bracket final)
CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES
Twin Falls Pioneers 11, Wood River Green 10
Twin Falls Pioneers 13, Wood River Green 1 (tournament championship)
CONSOLATION BRACKET
Mini-Cassia 'Lil Spartans 12, Nampa Red 11
Northside Jerome 33, Wood River West 2
Northside Jerome 22, Mini-Cassia 'Lil Spartans 10 (consolation championship)
Burrell Jones delivers a pitch for the Wood River Green 9-10 year-old team at Hailey’s Nelson Field during last weekend’s big tournament. Photo by Willy Cook
