PORT ANGELES — Championships are becoming a habit for the Olympic Junior Babe Ruth 13U players.
Olympic defeated the Spokane Toros 10-4 to win the Junior Babe Ruth North Washington 13U state championship at Volunteer Field on Sunday.
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.
“Anytime you can go undefeated in state and go into regionals, its kind of exciting,” Olympic coach Zac Moore said.
“They know what success feels like, and they feed off each other.
“They know how to win.”
Next up for Olympic, made up of players from Port Angeles and Sequim, is the regional tournament in Meridian, Idaho, on July 22-25.
Olympic won all four of its games at the state tournament it hosted Thursday through Sunday in Port Angeles.
Two of those wins came against Spokane.
The first was a 4-3 come-from-behind victory Friday, in which the Toros took a 3-0 lead but couldn’t hold on.
Spokane again took an early lead in Sunday’s game, but Olympic quickly quashed it with a three-run second inning.
Then a three-run third and a three-run fourth to take a 9-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth (Spokane was the home team by way of a pregame coin flip).
Olympic’s depth was on display Sunday.
While Spokane was began the game with the same starter as Friday’s game, Olympic was able to save Ethan Flodstrom’s arm for the championship.
“He threw really well, and we hit the ball really well,” Moore said.
Flodstrom was as much of a part of Olympic’s offensive attack as he was in shutting down the Toros.
He pitched 4 2/3 innings and struck out five while giving up three hits and two runs.
At the plate, he went 3 for 3 with three singles, a walk and was hit by a pitch. He drove in three runs and scored two. And he swiped two bases.
“He did really well today,” Moore said.
“Any time your leadoff hitter can be on base every time up to the plate, you have a pretty good shot to win the game.”
Olympic tallied nine hits overall.
Brody Merritt and Timmy Adams each went 2 for 4. Merritt had two runs and an RBI, and Adams scored a run.
Slater Bradley and Nathan Miller had Olympic’s other hits.
Bradley was 1 for 1 with three walks and an RBI, and Miller went 1 for 2 with a run and two RBIs.
Alex Lamb walked twice and drove in a pair of runs, one coming on a safety squeeze.
Merritt relieved Flodstrom and pitched the final 2 1/3 inning, striking out two and giving up two hits and two runs.
Olympic’s hurlers were aided by the players backing them up.
“We played good defense all weekend long,” Moore said.
“I think we had two errors all weekend. We played stellar defense.”
If Olympic wins the regional tournament, it will advance to the 13U Babe Ruth World Series in Jamestown, N.Y., next month.
“I love their heart and effort,” Moore said.
“Every time they walk on the field, they compete, and that’s all you can ask for.
“Our intensity was great all weekend. You can tell, they just get fired up and they get after it.”
Olympic 10, Spokane 4
Olympic 0 3 3 3 0 0 1 — 10 9 1
Sequim 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 — 4 5 1
WP- Flodstrom
Pitching Statistics
Olympic: Flodstrom 4 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 5 K, 4 BB, HBP; Merritt 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 K, 2 BB.
Hitting Statistics
Olympic: Flodstrom 3-3, BB, HBP, R, 3 RBI, 2 SB; Merritt 2-4, 2 R, RBI; Adams 2-4, R; Bradley 1-1, 3 BB, RBI; Miller 1-2, BB, R, 2 RBI; Lamb 0-1, 2 BB, R, RBI.
