BASEBALL: North Olympic 13U begins Junior Babe Ruth regionals today

MERIDIAN, Idaho — Olympic Junior Babe Ruth’s 13U baseball squad opens pool play today at the 10-team Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament at Settlers Park at Meridian, Idaho.

The team is in the National Division at the tournament and plays two games today, taking on Twin Falls, Idaho at 9 a.m. and South Coast out of Coos Bay, Ore. at 2 p.m.

North Olympic then takes on Camas at 2 p.m. Thursday and wraps pool play with a game versus The Dalles, Ore. at 11:30 a.m. Friday.

The top two teams in both the American and National Divisions advance to Saturday’s loser-out semifinals.

Many of Olympic’s players were members of the Port Angeles 12U team that won state and regional titles and advanced to the Cal Ripken World Series in Florida last summer.

“We’ve had a couple of very good practices back-to-back to end our practice schedule before we came down here,” coach Zac Moore said.

“These were our two best practices of the year, so everybody seems excited and ready to go.”

Moore has enjoyed the team’s camaraderie this summer.

“They all get along very well, which of course is a key component to every successful team,” Moore said.

“And they are competitors. They show up to the field, they hustle, they get after it and they know how to work.”

Pitching and defense are of prime importance for North Olympic.

“To be successful we have to go in and throw strikes and play good defense,” Moore said.

“Hitting-wise, we have a lot of switch hitters who bat left and throw right, which can be a bonus.”

The team also has multiple left-handed pitchers who can create matchup problems for opposing batters.

“We have by far the most left-handed pitchers of any team I’ve ever coached,” Moore said.

“We need to show up with fire and play our game, and we will be successful.”

More in Sports

Port Angeles’ Teanna Clark goes up for a basket against North Kitsap in Port Angeles on Tuesday. Clark had a solid game with 14 points, five assists and four steals in a 53-28 Roughriders victory. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
PREP ROUNDUP: Port Angeles girls overwhelm North Kitsap

Lindsay and Lexie Smith: 32 points and 18 rebounds

Port Angeles Roughriders.
PORT ANGELES BASKETBALL: Roughriders lose another heartbreaker at the buzzer

The Port Angeles boys basketball team rallied in the fourth… Continue reading

Sequim's Victoria Nava rolls in a match Monday against Port Angeles at Laurel Lanes. Nava led the Sequim bowlers with a two-game score of 313 while Port Angeles' Zoey Van Gordon led all bowlers with a 337 . (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
PREP ROUNDUP: Balanced Sequim girls outroll Port Angeles

The Sequim girls bowling team used consistent individual scores… Continue reading

Gus Halberg, Port Angeles basketball.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Gus Halberg, Port Angeles basketball

The boys on the Port Angeles basketball team had their backs against… Continue reading

East Jefferson’s Manaseh Lanphear Ramirez gets a pin against Charles Damien of Kingston at 150 pounds during the Rivals’ duals tournament held this weekend in Port Townsend. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
PREP WRESTLING: East Jefferson second at home invitational

East Jefferson finished second in its home Rivals Invitational… Continue reading

GIRLS WRESTLING: Trio of Forks, Port Angeles girls take first at Olympic tourney

Forks’ Jade Blair and Peyton Johnson and Port Angeles’ Lilly… Continue reading

BOYS SWIMMING: Riders dominate Buccaneers

The Port Angeles boys swim team came away with… Continue reading

Peninsula College's Akeem Sulaiman drives to the hoop Saturday in Port Angeles against Silas Wright (10) and Ben Thornbrue of Lane.Sulaiman scored 20 to go with 12 rebounds. (Jay Cline/Peninsula College)
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Pirates men win two out of three at home tournament

The Peninsula College men’s basketball team won two out… Continue reading

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Peninsula women sweep three at Clark tournament

The Peninsula College women’s basketball team swept three games… Continue reading

Port Angeles' Gus Halberg drives the lane against Olympic on Friday night. Halberg had 25 points and went to the free-throw line 17 times in a 75-40 Port Angeles victory. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)
BOYS PREP BASKETBALL: Riders bounce back with resounding win over Olympic

Sequim remains in first place after crushing Bainbridge