Youth ball: Hazel Dell Metro two games from World Series

The Hazel Dell Metro 14-year-old all-stars have set themselves up well for today’s finish at the Babe Ruth Pacific Northwest Regional tournament.

HDM finished pool play Friday with a 10-9 win over host Lewiston, Idaho, and enters the semifinals with big dreams.

Two wins today — in the semifinal and final — and HDM is off to Loudoun County, Va., for the Babe Ruth World Series for 14-year-olds.

“We have the best pitching that’s left, but we’ll have to get it done,” manager Dennis Zyph said.

Though Friday’s win was close, HDM never trailed. The biggest lead was 9-5 after the top of the sixth, and Lewiston made it close with two in its half of the sixth and two in the seventh.

Jay Becker, Jake Lewis, and Andrew Free each had two hits and an RBI, Alec Dannet drove in two runs, and Justin Aspon added two hits.

HDM plays the second semifinal at 1 p.m. today. The championship game is at 5 p.m.

Little League softball

Boulder-Arrowhead Big Sky Little League of Billings, Mont., edged Gilroy, Calif., 3-2 on Friday to claim the top seed from its pool at the Little League Softball Western Regional.

The result means the Billings team will play Pendleton, Ore., at 2 p.m. today in the second semifinal game at Fort Vancouver Little League. The 11 a.m. semifinal features two California teams, Burbank and Gilroy. The regional final is at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The regional champion advances to the Little League Softball World Series for girls ages 11-12 at Alpenrose Dairy in southwest Portland.

Fort Vancouver Little League is located on the south side of Mill Plain across from Hudson’s Bay High School. Admission is free.

Billings 3, Gilroy 2 — Addy Daubert was hit by a pitch leading off the bottom of the seventh, and scored the winning run with two outs.

Snow Canyon 11, Cascade 1 — The Utah champions (1-3) beat the host team in five innings. Cascade was winless in its four games.

Lewiston 10, East Jefferson 2 — Haley Weeks had three hits and three runs for the Idaho champions (1-3). The Washington champs from Chimacum finished 0-4.

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YOUTH BALL SCOREBOARD

LITTLE LEAGUE SOFTBALL

Western Regional at Fort Vancouver Little League

Pool 1

Burbank (Calif.) 4-0

Pendleton (Ore.) 3-1

Anchorage (Alaska) 2-2

Snow Canyon (Utah) 1-3

Cascade (Vancouver, host) 0-4

Pool 2

Billings (Mont.) 4-0

Gilroy (Calif.) 3-1

High Desert (Ariz.) 2-2

Lewiston (Idaho) 1-3

East Jefferson (Wash.) 0-4

Saturday, July 31

Anchorage 6, Snow Canyon 1

Gilroy 12, Lewiston 1

Sunday, Aug. 1

Gilroy 8, High Desert 1

Billings 9, East Jefferson 3

Burbank 5, Pendleton 1

Monday

High Desert 3, Lewiston 1

Pendleton 9, Snow Canyon 5

Anchorage 11, Cascade 1

Tuesday

Gilroy 15, East Jefferson 2

Billings 6, Lewiston 2

Burbank 23, Cascade 1

Wednesday

Burbank 4, Anchorage 1

Billings 8, High Desert 3

Pendleton 17, Cascade 1

Thursday

Pendleton 14, Anchorage 7

Burbank 11, Snow Canyon 1

High Desert 14, East Jefferson 2

Friday

Lewiston 10, East Jefferson 2

Billlings 3, Gilroy 2

Snow Canyon 11, Cascade 1

Today

Semifinals

Burbank vs. Gilroy, 11 a.m.

Billings vs. Pendleton, 2 p.m.

Sunday

Third-place game

Semifinal losers, 11 a.m.

Championship game

Semifinal winners, 2 p.m.

BABE RUTH BASEBALL

Pacific Northwest Regional 14-year-olds

At Lewiston, Idaho

Pool Play

Friday’s Game

Hazel Dell Metro 10, Lewiston, Idaho 9

Hazel Dell Metro 412 011 1–10 11 3

Lewiston 410 002 2– 9 7 2

Hazel Dell Metro

Pitching — Brooks Hanson 4 IP, win, 2K; Jake Lewis 2 IP, 2K; Hayden Humphrey 2/3 IP, 2K; Jay Becker 1/3 IP, 1K. Highlights — Becker 2-4 RBI; Lewis 2-4 RBI; Justin Aspon 2-4; Micah Fitzpatrick RBI; Alec Dannet 1-4 2RBI; Andrew Free 2-3 RBI; James Brooks 1-2; Josh Wikerson 1-2; Kaiden Grotte RBI.

Today’s games — Montana vs. Idaho, 10 a.m.; Hazel Dell Metro vs. Wyoming, 1 p.m.; championship at 5 p.m.