After winning the 2005 16-Year-old All-Star Oregon state title, the Hood River boys advanced to the regional tournament in Moscow, Idaho for a chance to advance to the All-Star World Series.
Although the team was eliminated from a trip to the World Series with a 1-2 record at regionals, they gained valuable experience and had a great time.
“Just playing in the Regionals for the second year in a row is a great accomplishment to these guys,” said coach Larry Williams. “Playing at this level is huge for the Hood River baseball program. The team improved in every game this summer, playing some great baseball. The kids really had a great time.”
At regionals, Hood River faced South Washington, Montana, and Alberta Calgary.
In their first game, against South Washington, a tough pitcher held Hood River to only two hits in the eventual 11-1 loss. Ryan Nelson, Adam Williams, Robby Kloster and Shay Huskey all pitched in the first.
Hood River’s second game was a different story, as they hammered 13 runs off 13 hits to beat Montana 13-2. Pitchers were Huskey, Nelson, Elliott Sherrell and Adam Williams. Leading at bat were Kloster 4 for 5, Huskey 3 for 4, and Adam Williams and Sherrell with 2 for 4.
Against Alberta Calgary, the eventual tournament winners, Hood River faced a hard-hitting, tough team, losing their final game 14-4. Thomas Nickel led the team in hitting 2 for 2.
“The Hood River Legion/Babe Ruth team would like to thank all the coaches for helping out this year,” Williams said. “We had some young coaches that didn’t have kids on the team and still devoted their time to the boys. They were great. Also, thanks to Chuck Johnisee for all that he did in organizing summer baseball, thanks to Hood River Ford Motors for donating vans for travel, and thanks to the Hood River Lions for running the snack wagon.”
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