The season may be over, but The Dalles 10U Little League All-Stars came about as close as possible to possibly snagging a championship at the Oregon State Little League Tournament.
Last week, playing in Medford, the Little Leaguers dropped their last game against Lake Oswego by a final count of 3-2, ending up in third place in the eight-team state tournament field. The Dalles, the District 5 champions, fell just short of playing for a state championship.
Coach Ken Brock knows the outcome against Lake Oswego, which will play Hermiston for the title, easily could have gone his team’s way.
“We had a really good group of boys, but Lake Oswego made all the plays they should have made to beat us,” Brock said. “There were two close plays at the plate that could have gone either way. There were three potential runs we could have scored if we just could have gotten a break.”
Brock said the youngsters were sad about the way the season ended because they recognized how competitive they were and what might have been.
“If we come out swinging the bats like we can, we’re unbeatable, in my opinion,” Brock said. “We had some really good pitching performances too. That’s all you can ask for.”
Despite the close loss, Brock was philosophical about the outcome and optimistic about prospects for next year’s team.
“The boys grew a ton as players, athletes, and people,” Brock said. “They battled through adversity and took challenges head on.”
Brock pointed out that The Dalles 10U team could have several players coming back next year.
“We were one of the younger teams in the tournament,” he explained. “Four kids on our team were 9, and it’s great to be able to bring kids back as All-Stars with experience and more knowledge about what to expect. We’ll keep building up, put together a quality team and make another run at it next year.”
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