Pepsi scores Babe Ruth championship

“It was shown by the final play. Taylor and Jacob are both 13-year olds and they won the game for us,” said Russell Peters. “It shows that we can rely on everybody on this team to come through and help us win. It doesn’t matter if you are 13 or 15, we need everyone here contributing for us to have success.”

With the game tied at 4-all, Beeks started the rally with a one-out single to centerfield.

With Buell at the plate, Beeks stole second base to put himself in scoring position.

On a 0-2 pitch, Buell hit a groundball to shortstop and hustled down the line, as the throw sailed high off the glove of the Hood River first baseman.

Beeks raced home safely, giving Pepsi its winning run.

Friday’s win marked the second consecutive one-run playoff win for a Pepsi team that finished 13-1 overall.

On Wednesday in the semifinals, they defeated ECE by a 10-9 margin to move into the finals.

“Playing in these close games really taught me about commitment and how every player in here was ready to do whatever it took to win,” Buell said. “We always worked together, we were never down on ourselves or each other and we never gave up. When you have that, we are tough to beat.”

Pepsi did most of its damage in the bottom of the second inning when they scored four runs off Hood River starter Trenton Hough to erase a 1-0 deficit.

With one out, Seufalemua and Zach Anderson were hit by pitches, and then Raven Bierwirth reached on a walk to load the bases.

With Beeks up to bat, Seufalemua scored on a wild pitch to tie the score at 1-1.

Beeks eventually worked a walk to load the bases for Buell, who then placed a bunt single down the third base line for an RBI infield single to score Anderson.

The bases were still loaded, with Gavin Wallace at the plate, when a passed ball plated Bierwirth to run the lead to 3-1.

Wallace popped out for the second out of the second inning, but with Gabe Helseth at the plate, Beeks scored on a passed ball to cap the four-run rally.

The lead remained 4-1 until the top of the fourth inning, when Hood River scored three runs on three walks and two singles.

Hough drove in two runs with a single to left field, and then an RBI squeeze bunt scored Hough for the final run.

Hood River had a rally going in the sixth inning with runners at first and second and one out, but Brandon Smiley was thrown out at third base on a stolen base attempt by Seufalemua, who moved from pitcher to catcher.

With Hough at second base, Lee struck out Andy Foster swinging to end the inning.

In the top of the seventh inning, Hood River had runners at second and third with two outs, but Lee struck out Hood River’s leadoff hitter, Jeremiah Brittle, looking to open the door for Pepsi’s late rally.

After Pepsi’s four-run second inning, Hough kept the opposition in check over the next four frames, allowing two runners to advance into scoring position in that span.

As frustrated as the Pepsi team was, they never stopped believing they could create an opportunity.

“What this game teaches us is that we can pull through even in these tough times of not being able to score or get a hit,” Beeks said. “We remained confident and we picked each other up in dugout and told each other that we could do it.

“We just continued to thrive off each other’s energy and finally took advantage of the one chance we had.”

Lee pitched the final four innings in relief to pick up the win.

The right-hander allowed three earned runs on two hits with five walks and five strikeouts.

Hough went 1 for 2 with a walk, a run scored and two RBIs, Smiley had a hit, a walk and a run scored and Brittle reached on two walks and scored a run.

In all, Pepsi managed three hits, four walks and had three reach on hit by pitches on Hough, Hood River’s starter, who also struck out eight.

Beeks went 2 for 2 with two runs scored and a stolen base, Buell had a hit and an RBI, and Russell Peters had the other hit.

Bierwirth was 0 for 1 with two walks and a run scored, Anderson scored a run and Seufalemua went hitless, but reached on a walk and a hit by pitch and scored a run.

“I told them to just go out there and do their job. It is one inning, one run, one at-bat. You cannot worry about the mistakes you made before that at-bat, or before that play on the field,” said Pepsi head coach Brian Bierwirth. “These guys buckle down and have shown resiliency. When we need the hits they do it, when they need to step up, they have all stepped up. Everyone has contributed on this team.”

Coming off a 14-1 record, and a title run, Buell is hoping to come back in 2017 on this same team with coach Bierwirth and his staff.

Peters saw a group that banded together and relied on everyone on the roster to make the plays.

Beeks hoisted a trophy to cap a memorable season, his first as a Babe Ruth player, but he feels there is a lot more that goes into what this group has been able to accomplish.

“This is the first championship I have ever won and I am sure it is the same for a lot of the other kids, but we are going to remember this,” Beeks said.

“We are going to be able to talk about this when we are 25 and older, and I think this is going to make us better friends because we were able to put it all together for each other,” Beeks added.