The Dalles Sluggers win two spring tournaments

The team, coached by David Ortega, Shane Elliott, and Travis Dray, won the Portland Competitive Youth Baseball League’s City of Roses Classic on April 1-2 in Vancouver, Wash. The Sluggers, which had a team batting average through May of .408 and 201 hits, beat Tigard 12U, 10-9, for the championship after tying them 9-9 earlier in the tournament.

The team’s other win came May 12-13 in Keizer at the PCYBL Mother’s Day Tournament. The Sluggers beat Central Baseball, 11-5, for the championship. In the tournament, the team hit 10 home runs led by Ben Graham’s four round-trippers. Hunter Kelley (2), Levi Alsup (grand slam), Zeke Cervantes, Joel Ortega, and Creed Weedman also homered for the Sluggers.

In other tourneys this spring, the Sluggers were fifth in the Northwest Nations Cinco de Mayo Fiesta on April 29-30 in Kennewick. The Sluggers beat the LC Outlaws Baseball Club in their final tourney contest, 4-2, to claim fifth place. The Sluggers were a finalist in the PCYBL’s Cinco de Mayo Tournament on May 6-7 in Keizer. The Sluggers lost to Dallas, 10-7, in their final tourney game after beating them earlier in the tournament, 9-7.

In the PCYBL’s Cinco de Mayo Tournament, the Sluggers hit nine home runs: Hunter Kelley (2), Joel Ortega (2), Austen Alsup (1), Thatcher Dray (1), David Gardipee (1), Ben Graham (1), and Creed Weedman (1).

Leading the Sluggers on the mound are pitchers: Thatcher Dray, with 35.2 innings pitched with 66 strikeouts; Ben Graham, 13 innings pitched with 19 strikeouts; David Gardipee, 12.2 innings pitched with 22 strikeouts; Levi Alsup, 10.1 innings pitched with 18 strikeouts; and Creed Weedman, 10.1 innings pitched with 16 strikeouts.

Other team members include Kellen Elliott and Colton Rippyl.