Thurston County 14s make it all the way to finals

PULLMAN - The Thurston County 14s Titans proved to be one of the surprise teams at the Southern Washington 14-year-old state baseball championships, pulling off two upsets before losing to Hazel Dell Metro, 9-8, in eight innings in Sunday's championship game at Pullman High School.

The Titans won one of their three pool-play games, defeating Chehalis in the tournament’s opener on Wednesday, 8-2. But TC earned the third seed from the National pool and pulled upset victories over Richland (11-7) in the quarterfinals and previously unbeaten Kelso (9-5) in the semifinals to meet Hazel Dell Metro of Vancouver in the championship game. Kelso had defeated TC, 12-8, Thursday in pool play.

Hazel Dell Metro advances to the regionals in Lewiston, Idaho, starting Aug. 1.

BABE RUTH 13S

Mount St. Helens beat Kelso, 12-9, in the Southern Washington 13 Babe Ruth state championship game at North Thurston High School. Mount St. Helens advances to regionals in Idaho Falls, Idaho, starting Aug. 1.

BLACK HILLS DONE

The Black Hills Cal Ripken 10s all-star team had its season ended in the regional championship game Saturday, losing 2-0 to West Linn (Ore.) in Lewistown, Mont. Black Hills went 3-1 in pool play and defeated Whitefish (Mont.), 13-4, in the semifinals. West Linn advances to the Cal Ripken World Series, Aug. 13-20, in Ocala, Fla.

BOMBERS SPLIT

The Milltown Bombers 12U team, comprised of players from Lacey and Yelm, split its first two games at the Super Series National Championship in McKinney, Texas, on Sunday. The Bombers lost to DBAT Mustangs, 8-0, then defeated Team Rawlings, 7-4.

Milltown continues pool play at 9 a.m. PST today against the Tampa Crush. The winner of the 14-team tournament advances to the National Youth Baseball Championships, Aug. 26-29, in Memphis, Tenn.