MERIDIAN, Idaho — Olympic Junior Babe Ruth’s 13U baseball squad opens pool play today at the 10-team Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament at Settlers Park at Meridian, Idaho.
The team is in the National Division at the tournament and plays two games today, taking on Twin Falls, Idaho at 9 a.m. and South Coast out of Coos Bay, Ore. at 2 p.m.
North Olympic then takes on Camas at 2 p.m. Thursday and wraps pool play with a game versus The Dalles, Ore. at 11:30 a.m. Friday.
The top two teams in both the American and National Divisions advance to Saturday’s loser-out semifinals.
Many of Olympic’s players were members of the Port Angeles 12U team that won state and regional titles and advanced to the Cal Ripken World Series in Florida last summer.
“We’ve had a couple of very good practices back-to-back to end our practice schedule before we came down here,” coach Zac Moore said.
“These were our two best practices of the year, so everybody seems excited and ready to go.”
Moore has enjoyed the team’s camaraderie this summer.
“They all get along very well, which of course is a key component to every successful team,” Moore said.
“And they are competitors. They show up to the field, they hustle, they get after it and they know how to work.”
Pitching and defense are of prime importance for North Olympic.
“To be successful we have to go in and throw strikes and play good defense,” Moore said.
“Hitting-wise, we have a lot of switch hitters who bat left and throw right, which can be a bonus.”
The team also has multiple left-handed pitchers who can create matchup problems for opposing batters.
“We have by far the most left-handed pitchers of any team I’ve ever coached,” Moore said.
“We need to show up with fire and play our game, and we will be successful.”