As often occurs in baseball, a play or two at a crucial moment often decides the winner of a close game.
For the Bainbridge Island Blue team last weekend, their season was extended to playing in the state 10-11 year-old Little League tournament when it converted three consecutive fielding plays against South Kitsap Western in the District 2 title game.
“We were ahead and they had the bases loaded with no outs,” said coach Troy Aichele. “We brought the infield in and we made two great plays for outs at home and then the last out at first. If we don’t make those stops, then we lose that game.”
Instead, a 5-2 victory (its second over South Kitsap Western in three games) sets up a noon game Saturday in Cheney against Glenwood Little League of Vancouver.
Aichele is a veteran Little League coach, but he was unsure of what he had going into the District 2 tournament in Port Orchard.
“You never know from practice,” he said, “but I thought we had the potential to advance. This team has a good attitude, works hard and the players like being around each other. So that’s a good start.”
Because of the perceived potential, he said, “we worked this team harder than others because the difference in these tournaments can depend on who’s in shape. So we practiced hard trying to be one up on our opponents.”
Last year’s Bainbridge 10-11 team placed second in the state tournament, though the island had only one all-star team from that age group while there were two that played in last week’s district tourney. (See roundup).
Bainbridge Island Little League Roundup
SOFTBALL
• Major Girls June 25-29 at Snider Park in Poulsbo – Bainbridge won two of its four games, defeating Sequim 5-3 and Gig Harbor National 11-7, while losing twice to eventual champion East Jefferson/Port Townsend by scores of 12-3 and 7-3.
• 10-11 Girls July 2-9 at Snider Park in Poulsbo – Bainbridge won its opener 12-0 over North Kitsap American/National before losing to eventual champion Gig Harbor 8-7 and then North Kitsap 7-5 in an elimination game.
• 9-10 Girls July 2-10 – Bainbridge appeared poised to capture the title after defeating Key Peninsula/SK Western 37-2 and Gig Harbor 3-2, however, Gig Harbor roared back to win the championship with two victories over Bainbridge, winning 7-3 win in the semifinals and then 6-5 in the title game.
BASEBALL
• Results of Majors Boys July 7-15 at Belfair
Bainbridge Island 12, East/South Jefferson 0; BI 14, South Kitsap Western (SKW) 1; BI 13, Gig Harbor National (GHN) 2; BI 6, Gig Harbor American (GHA) 0. Scheduled to play Thursday evening for state tournament berth.
• Results of 10-11 Boys July 1-10 at Port Orchard
Bainbridge Island (Blue) 19, South Kitsap Southern (SKN) 0; Blue 3, SKW 2; BLUE 13, South Kitsap Eastern (SKE) 2; SKW 13, Blue 7; Blue 5, SKW 2.
Bainbridge Island (Gold) 12, GHN 1; North Kitsap National (NKN) 7, Gold 4; Gold 13, GHN 3; SKW 11, Gold 1.
• Results of 9-10 Boys July 1-11 at Port Orchard
Bainbridge Island (Gold) 17, SKS 3; Gold 8, Gig Harbor American (GHA) 5; GHN 14, Gold 4; Gold 8, Blue 7; GHN 16, Gold 5.
SKW 7, Bainbridge Island (Blue) 5; Blue 23, KP 2; Blue 14, SKS 5; Blue 6, SKW 5; Blue 8, NKA 4; Gold 8, Blue 7.
