BABE RUTH REGIONALS: Wilder 14U on to championship game

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 22, 2026

MERIDIAN, Idaho — Wilder Junior did all it could to mount a last at-bat comeback against Bulldogs Baseball Academy of Vancouver, plating four runs in the top of the seventh before falling 8-7 in the semifinals of Wednesday’s 16U Pacific Northwest Babe Ruth Regional Tournament at Meridian High School.

Trailing 8-3 entering the seventh inning, Wilder Junior put one run across when Morgan Evans came through with a bases-loaded single to score Van Johnson, who had reached with a leadoff double.

Parker Pavlak’s fielder’s choice brought home a run, and Wilder followed it up by cutting the lead to 8-6 on a dropped third strike to Logan Botero. Pavlak scored on a wild pitch to pull within one run, but Asher Irvine struck out to close the contest and wrap Wilder’s (16-13) chance at a trip to Branson, Mo., for the 16U Babe Ruth World Series.

Bulldogs Baseball 8, Wilder Junior 7

Wilder 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 — 7 7 2

Bulldogs 1 1 0 3 3 0 x — 8 10 0

Hitting

Wilder Junior — Irvine 1-4, R; Bruch 1-3, R; V. Johnson 1-2, 2B, BB, 2 R; Domin 1-2, BB, R, 2 RBI; Evans 1-3, RBI; Pavlak 1-3, R, RBI. .

Pitching

Wilder Junior — Schlicting 4 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K., Bruch 2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, BB, 2 K.

Wilder 14U 8, Oswego 3

MERIDIAN, Idaho — Wilder 14U bounced back from a pool play defeat Tuesday evening with an 8-3 semifinal triumph over Oswego (Oregon) in the 14U Pacific Northwest Babe Ruth Regional Tournament at Settlers’ Park on Wednesday morning.

The victory moved the Port Angeles-based Wilder club to the regional championship and a matchup with the FCA Lumberjacks of Woodland late Wednesday.

Wilder pieced together a big second inning thanks to a walk, an error, a hit batter and RBI singles from Coleman Keate, Kyler Williams and Tristin Konopaski to take a 5-0 advantage.

Konopaski connected on a line-drive double to left field with one out in the fifth and, after moving to third on a wild pitch, scored on Cooper Merritt’s fielder’s choice.

Merritt moved to second on Jacob Kimzey’s single and to third when Gavin Doyle was hit by a pitch to load the bases. He came around to score on a Noah Kiser walk to stretch Wilder’s lead back to five at 7-2.

Greenstreet added an RBI single in the top of the seventh for an 8-3 lead.

Keate came on in relief and tossed 22/3 perfect innings to limit Oswego, striking out a pair of batters.

Wilder 14U 8, Oswego 3

Wilder 0 5 0 0 2 0 1 — 8 7 2

Oswego 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 — 3 7 4

Hitting

Wilder 14U — Konopaski 3-3, 2B, R, RBI; Williams 1-3, BB, R, RBI; Greenstreet 1-4, R, RBI; Keate 1-3, BB, R. arajas 1-4, RBI; Steffen 0-1, 3 R 2 BB, 2 SB.

EJ — Moore 1-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB; Dunn 1-4, R, 2 RBI, SB; Fountain 1-3; Stuart 1-3, 2 R; Reid 0-3, 2 R 2 SB.

Pitching

Wilder 14U — Doyle 4.1 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 K; Keate 2.2 IP, 2 K.

Belgrade 7, Wilder 14U 2

Gavin Doyle and Noah Kiser each collected a pair of hits and Wilder actually outhit Belgrade 7-4, but three errors, six walks and a couple of hit batters did in Wilder in the final game of pool play Tuesday night.

Carson Greenstreet and Coleman Keate recorded RBIs in the loss.