Indians, Braves win interleague championships

The Big Horn County Little League program concluded their interleague tournaments over the weekend with the Majors championship game played Thursday at the Northeast Little League Complex in Lovell and the Minors championship game played Friday at Homesteader Park in Powell.Wednesday, the MTI Nationals took care of the Powell Cardinals 11-3 at the Northeast Complex to advance to the championship game. Dawson Sweat rapped four hits for the Nationals, including a home run, and William Spann had three hits, Satchel Ginest two. Sweat led the Nats with four runs batted in and Spann had two, Ginest one.Ginest pitched 1 2/3 innings, striking out two Powell batters. Russell Crosby relieved Ginest and pitched 4 1/3 innings, fanning six Powell batters.The Cowley Recreation District Indians defeated Greybull in a close game 3-2 at the Northeast Complex Wednesday to advance to the championship game.[caption id="attachment_12579" align="aligncenter" width="500"] MTI Nationals pitcher Satchel Ginest ducks down so third baseman Zane Collins can fire to first base to get the out during the Nationals’ 4-2 win over the Powell Giants June 19 during the Majors Interleague Tournament at Constitution Park.
David Peck photo[/caption]Nathan Minemyer pitched 1 1/3 innings, striking out four Greybull batters. Jared Mangus relieved Minemyer and pitched 4 2/3 innings, whiffing 10 Greybull batters.“That was one of the tightest, toughest games we ever played,” coach Ryan Mangus said. “Good base running paid off on a night when our hitting was off.”The Indians and Nats duked it out for the Interleague title Thursday at the Northeast Complex. The Indians bounced back from trailing 4-0 by scoring two runs in fourth and three runs in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead going into the final inning.After the Nats tied it up at five apiece, the Indians loaded the bases and won on a walk-off catcher’s interference call.Preston Nichols and Minemyer recorded two hits apiece for the Tribe. Keldon Boettcher rapped two hits to lead the Nationals. He led the team in RBIs with two while Blake Wilson and Sweat had one apiece.Minemyer pitched 4 2/3 innings, fanning 11 National batters. Jacob Bischoff relieved Minemyer and pitched the final 1 1/3 innings, whiffing two National batters.Ginest pitched 4 1/3 innings for the Nats, striking out four Indian batters.“It was just a great Little League Baseball game,” Mangus said. “It was one of the best I’ve ever been a part of.”Minors tournamentMinors tournament play resumed Thursday as the Synergy Construction Dodgers defeated the Powell A’s 13-12 in a semifinal game at Homesteader Park in Powell.The Bairco Braves defeated the Wilson Brothers Construction Cubs 8-7 in the other semifinal game in Powell. Owen Walker led the Braves with two hits and also in RBIs with two.Tucker Jackson recorded two hits for the Cubs with three RBIs.Alex Hedges pitched three innings for the Braves, striking out nine Cubs batters.Kyle Wilson pitched 3 2/3 innings for the Cubs, fanning 10 Braves batters.Friday, the Braves defeated the Dodgers 5-2 to win the Minors Interleague Championship game in Powell.“I’d like to congratulate the Dodgers on a fantastic season,” coach Jake Walker said. “Over the last couple of years they’ve built a program that has been the benchmark in the Minors that the rest of us have been working toward. It’s amazing to see these young ball players step up in the moment.“The championship game was really a reflection of our season and that is winning the game with pitching and being sound defensively. Matthew Newman really was huge for us and threw 4 2/3 innings, only giving up one run, and Kaeson Anderson was clutch, closing out the game by pitching 1 1/3 innings, also giving up just one run.“Our kids worked hard and played well defensively. We didn’t make many mistakes, which was huge for our confidence. We did a good job at the plate against a great pitching performance from Rudy Hall, who threw a lot of strikes.”Walker also talked about the great season that his team and the rest of Little League teams had this year.“Overall it was a great season,” Walker said. “It was a pleasure working with these kids. We have great youth in our area. The future for Big Horn Little League is bright with all four teams in the championship games from Majors and Minors coming from our league.”All-Star season prepThe Big Horn Little League program is now gearing up for the all-star portion of the season as tryouts were held Monday and Tuesday. Big Horn will have a 10U and a 12U all-star team.“Now it’s all-star season, so good luck and congratulations to all those who made all-stars,” Walker said.The Wyoming District 1 Tournament will be held July 17-22 in Green River, and the Wyoming Little League State Tournament will be held July 26-29 in Laramie.

Minor League Tournament Results

Monday, June 19

#5 Powell Mets 14, #4 Big Horn Storage Twins 9, loser out

#5 Otto Rattlers 14, #4 Powell Orioles 10, loser out

#3 Wilson Brothers Construction Cubs 5, #6 Big Horn Federal Red Sox 3, loser out

Tuesday, June 20

Quarterfinals

#2 Synergy Construction Dodgers 11, #3 Powell Red Sox 8, loser out

Wilson Bros. Construction Cubs 9, #2 Powell Royals 3, loser out

#1 Powell A’s 15, Powell Mets 11, loser out

#1 Bairco Braves 12, Otto Rattlers 3, loser out

Thursday, June 22

Semifinals

Synergy Construction Dodgers 13, Powell A’s 12, loser out

Bairco Braves 8, Wilson Bros. Construction Cubs 7, loser out

Friday, June 24

Championship

Bairco Braves 5, Synergy Construction Dodgers 2

Major League Tournament Results

Monday, June 19

First round and Quarterfinals

#5 Powell Diamondbacks 12, #4 Otto Rattlers 2, loser out

#5 Wyoming Lime Producers Royals 9, #4 Powell Rockies 7, loser out

#2 MTI Nationals 4, #3 Powell Giants 2, loser out

#1 Powell Cardinals 13, Wyoming Lime Producers Royals 2, loser out

#1 Cowley Recreation District Indians 19, Powell Diamondbacks 9, loser out

Wednesday, June 21

Semifinals

Cowley Recreation District Indians 3, South Big Horn Bandits 2, loser out

MTI Nationals 11, Powell Cardinals 3, loser out

Thursday, June 22

Championship

Cowley Recreation District Indians 6, MTI Nationals 5

By Sam Smith