MERIDIAN, Idaho — The hits just coming for the Olympic 13U Junior Babe Ruth club. Carson Greenstreet’s clutch two-out double capped a five-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning and Olympic held on to win the Pacific Northwest Regional Championship 10-8 over the Belgrade (Mont.) Bandits late Wednesday.
The Port Angeles squad went a perfect 6-0 at the regional tournament and has now qualified to play in the 13U Babe Ruth World Series set. Aug. 16-23 in Jamestown, New York.
Trailing 7-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning against Belgrade, Olympic used four walks, three singles, a two-run double by Noah Kiser and a wild pitch to plate four and pull within 7-5.
Belgrade clawed a run back with a steal of home in the top half of the sixth, leaving Olympic with some work to do.
Kiser’s sacrifice fly trimmed the deficit to 8-6, with Cooper Merritt loading the bases on an infield single and Jacob Kimzey coming through with a two-run single to center field tie the game up.
Greenstreet then followed up with a double to center to score Merritt and Kimzey with the eventual game-winning runs.
Coleman Keate closed out the contest by allowing a leadoff single, before inducing a fielders’ choice and getting the last two outs on a pair of popups.
It was the second time in as many days that Olympic defeated Belgrade, the local side won a Tuesday slugfest 14-12.
Olympic reached the championship thanks to a walk-off, dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 victory in the bottom of the seventh inning over Oswego (Oregon) Baseball 13U to win the regional semifinal.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
