The Butte Junior League All Stars have won the state baseball tournament and will represent Montana in their division of the Little League regionals in San Jose, California on Saturday, if they can raise enough money to get there.
The team of 13- and 14-year-olds advanced to a double-elimination round of the state tournament in Billings this weekend and then won three games in a row, including the championship game on Monday.
They first beat Lockwood Consolidated 14-2 on Saturday and then beat all stars from Burlington Central on Sunday in extra innings.
Burlington had taken a two-run lead in the top of the eighth, but Butte scored once in the bottom of the inning to pull to within 7-6. With runners on second and third, Jimmy Blow hit a walk-off double to left center to win the game 8-7.
“Everyone ran onto the field yelling and screaming and he was pretty overwhelmed,” said Samm Cox, who manages the team with assistants Dave Dunmire, Chad O’Connell and Mike Duffy.
The team sealed the deal Monday by beating Burlington Central again, this time 4-2, with solid starting pitching from Zack O’Connell, who got the win. Gavin Trudgeon got the save in relief.
Others on the team are Tyler Duffy, Derek Dunmire, Blake Armstrong, Mason Armstrong, Cameron Tobiness, John McCarthy, Jonas Sherman, Quinn Cox, Garrett Sharp and Aiden Cuchine.
The team needs about $25,000 to get everyone to San Jose for the regionals and — if they win that tournament — the right to represent the West in the Little League World Series in Wisconsin. Thanks to league support and donations from Butte businesses and individuals, they were about halfway there as of noon Tuesday, Cox said.
The league in Montana gave $3,000 and the “businesses have been more than generous,” Cox said, but they still needed more to get there. Anyone can donate through a Go Fund Me page...
)
