by Scott Sacry
The Bitterroot Red Sox 10u baseball team won the Montana State Western tournament on Sunday, July 14th in Stevensville for the second consecutive year. This win qualified them for the Pacific Northwest Regional baseball tournament in Eugene, Oregon this weekend.
The Bitterroot Red Sox 10u team is made up of 12 all-stars from the communities of Stevensville, Corvallis, Hamilton, and Darby.
This summer, they have played in local and regional tournaments and have compiled a 32-3 record going into regionals. Last year’s team went 32-5 and took 3rd in regionals.
“We have a very phenomenal group of Bitterroot Valley kids on this year’s team,” said Jeff Hakki, the team’s head coach. “They have a great shot to make it far this weekend.”
Since their state victory on July 14th, the kids have been busy raising funds to pay for the trip to Oregon. This fundraising includes family donations and business donations. They also had a big raffle with prizes that included a round of golf at the Stock Farm, a rifle, local meat, and box seats at a Griz game.
“It was all about getting the kids set up to play baseball in Oregon,” said Hakki. “Our community is awesome, they were so generous last year, and once again they have been very generous this year.“
The team left on Tuesday, July 23rd for Oregon. The Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament consists of two pools, with teams from the Northwest. The top two teams from each pool advance to the semifinals. The regional winner qualifies for the Cal Ripken World Series, which is held in Crown Point, Indiana on August 8-18.
“We have a real shot at making it into the final four in regional and making a run at the title,” said Hakki. “This is a great group of kids – I like our chances!”