Kalispell captures Babe Ruth title

With four wins in pool play and a shutout Sunday afternoon against Bitterroot South Valley, Kalispell was in perfect position to win the State Babe Ruth Baseball Tournament Sunday evening at Legion Field in Havre.

Kalispell, the only undefeated team in the tournament, kept its perfect record with a 10-3 win over Gallatin Valley in the championship game.

Kalispell's road to the championship included wins over Glendive, Bitterroot North Valley, Gallatin Valley and Havre. The team scored a combined 52 runs in its first four games, while holding its opponents to 11 runs. Bitterroot North Valley scored five runs in its game with Kalispell. The three other teams each scored two.

Bozeman finished third in the tournament with a 14-9 win over Bitterroot South. Bozeman took a 3-1 record out of pool play with its lone loss coming on Thursday to the Hi-Line West team. Bozeman lost to Gallatin Valley in the early game Sunday, taking itself out of title contention.

Bozeman, Bitterroot South Valley and Hi-Line West each finished with 3-1 records and were tied coming out of pool play. Hi-Line West lost a tiebreaker to make it to Sunday's championship rounds.

The Havre team finished with a 1-3 record, losing to Bitterroot North Valley, Glendive and Kalispell. Havre beat Gallatin Valley Saturday.

The following are the scores from all four days of the tournament:

Thursday:

Bitterroot South Valley 12, Northern 1

Kalispell 9, Glendive 2

Gallatin Valley 17, Bitterroot North Valley 12 (8 innings)

Hi-Line West 9, Bozeman 8

Miles City 6, Northern 2

Bitterroot North 13, Havre 2

Bitterroot South 3, Hi-Line West 2

Friday:

Gallatin Valley 9, Glendive 8

Bozeman 6, Miles City 5

Kalispell 13, Bitterroot North 5

Hi-Line West 11, Northern 3

Bozeman 9, Bitterroot South 2

Glendive 24, Havre 7

Saturday:

Kalispell 18, Gallatin Valley 2

Hi-Line West 5, Miles City 2

Havre 11, Gallatin Valley 9

Bozeman 14, Northern 3

Bitterroot North 3, Glendive 0

Kalispell 12, Havre 2

Bitterroot South 11, Miles City 2

Sunday:

Gallatin Valley 6, Bozeman 4 (semifinals)

Kalispell 9, Bitterroot South 0 (semifinals)

Bozeman 14, Bitterroot South 9 (third place)

Kalispell 10, Gallatin Valley 3 (championship)