MERIDIAN, Idaho — Going up against squads from big communities in four states, the North Olympic 12U Cal Ripken squad acquitted itself extremely well, going 3-2 at the regional tournament and finishing third this weekend.
The North Olympic squad qualified for the Cal Ripken regionals by winning the state championship in early July.
North Olympic began by going 3-1 in pool play, qualifying for the semifinals.
North Olympic began pool play by losing to the WVBR All-Stars (Eugene, Ore.) 10-0, but bounced back with three straight wins.
They beat the Helena (Mont.) All-Stars 11-5 as Cooper Merritt had five RBIs. They followed up with a 6-3 win over the East Boise (Idaho) Americans as Merritt hit two doubles and drove in two runs. Liam Shea had three RBIs. Jay Lieberman allowed one earned run in 3⅔ innings pitched, striking out six.
They qualified for the semifinals by beating MYB Select (Meridian, Idaho) 9-3 as Merritt again had two doubles and two RBIs and Jacob Kinzey was 3-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBIs. Coleman Keate allowed two earned runs in five innings on the mound.
In the semifinals, they played the Kennewick All-Stars. North Olympic was down just 3-2 in the fifth inning, but Kennewick scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth to pull away for an 8-2 win. Kennewick ended up winning the regional championship and moves on to the Cal Ripken World Series.
North Olympic finished with an outstanding won-loss record of 25-5-1.
