Optimists take first in Havre Babe Ruth League

The Havre Babe Ruth League has completed regular season play with the Optimist Club in first with an 11-5 record.

The Optimists captured the title with a 6-5 win over Wells Fargo Tuesday evening.

The youth baseball league's final standings had Northern Montana Hospital in second with a 10-6 record, Wells Fargo in third at 8-8, Railroad Pagers in fourth at 8-8 and Valley Furniture in fifth at 0-16.

The league hosts its annual Babe Ruth City Tournament beginning this evening at Legion Field. The early games each day will begin at 5:15 p.m. with the late games set to start at 7:30 p.m.

The true double-elimination tournament is slated to run through Sunday, but a Monday game may be necessary to determine the winner if both teams have one loss after Sunday's title tilt.

The first-round games pit Valley Furniture against Northern Montana Hospital followed by Wells Fargo against the Railroad Pagers. The Optimist Club earned a first-round bye with its league title.

Friday's action begins at 5:15 p.m. with the Optimists facing the lowest-seeded winner from today's round. Game two Friday at 7:30 p.m. will be a loser-out contest between the two losers from today's round.

Play gets under way Saturday with the highest-seeded winner from today facing the winner of today's early game. The late game Saturday pits the loser from the early game Friday against the winner of Friday's late game.

The first game Sunday will feature the loser from Saturday's early game and the winner of Saturday's late game. The winner will then face the winner of Saturday's early game in the championship tilt.

The Monday playoff game will begin at 5:15 p.m. if needed.

Members of the regular season champion Optimist Club are Scott Ladenburg, Drue Ita, Jess McLain, Shane Rice, Ryan Callahan, Anthony Wirtzberger, Bryan Ricci, Spencer Ivers, Kyle Finneman, Taylor Ita, Andrew Lindquist, Josh Haas and Ryan Welch. They are coached by Matt Ladenburg, Bill Wirtzberger and Tim Callahan.