While they played hard, the Pine River All Stars' run at the Colorado Little League tournament in Grand Junction came to an end after two games.
The All Stars lost to the Academy of Colorado Springs on Friday, 3-15. Caden Wood started on the mound, followed by Jackson Queen. Noah Chamblee finished the pitching for the All Stars. Chamblee also hit the team's only homer, bringing in two runs for the team, affectionately dubbed the Dirt Bags.
The team then faced North Boulder Little League on Saturday, finishing 1-11. Wood scored the only run for the team. Lance Mazur pitched the first four innings, followed by Tristan Iguchi of Pagosa Springs.
While the loss against some of the top 12-year-olds in the state was tough, "this team has some good potential for the future," said head coach Kennie Monger.
Some of the boys played in both Little League and the Strike Zone organization in Farmington, for the Pumpjacks 12U team.
"There are about six or seven kids on our team who competed on that level," Monger said of the caliber of state play. "Those who played 50 games this year - it makes a difference, you could see the difference in the skill level. I think this shows we can compete at this state level. This is going to be a solid class when they get to high school."
During each of the games, the local boys hung in for the first three or four innings. Between player errors and coaching errors, "if you could eliminate half of those, you'd be a lot closer," Monger said.
Members of the team are Nicholas Twedt, Noah Chamblee, Ethan White, Caden Wood, Keaton Pickering, Lance Mazur, Jayden Vagneur, Ethan Candeleria, Jackson Queen and Andy Monger of Bayfield, Devante Montoya of Ignacio, and Kaison Clifford, Tristan Iguchi and Braylon Cotts of Pagosa Springs. In addition to Monger, the All Stars were coached by Chris Iguchi and Brian Wilhelm.
