Louis Bloch Park provided a perfect setting for the Southwest Washington 13-year-old Babe Ruth state tournament.
Fans enjoyed burgers, hot dogs and five days of baseball under the sun in Camas. After an 11-1 loss to Longview Wednesday, Camas-Washougal defeated Chehalis-Centralia 11-0 Thursday, Richland 11-0 Friday and Kennewick 6-0 Saturday to reach the semifinals Sunday.
“It’s unbelievable to lose the first game by 10 and then put up 30 runs in the next three games,” said manager Chad Jones. “It would have been easy for them to lay down, but I’m proud of the way they regrouped and refocused. They went from the underdog to the team nobody wants to face.”
Camas-Washougal also had solid pitching. Trevor Milton tossed a 2-hit shutout against Richland. Preston Thornton and Isaac Hoidal combined for a no-hitter against Kennewick. The infielders behind them turned two double plays to keep Kennewick from scoring any runs.
Chehalis-Centralia beat Camas-Washougal 12-10 in the semifinal game. The Twin Cities all-stars scored 10 runs in the first inning. The local boys piled on 10 runs of their own, but didn’t have enough outs.