James Kruse (21) and Caden McCray jump for joy after McCray scored a run for the Roosters in the regional championship game.
Irving Alvarez goes the distance on the mound for the Roosters in the regional championship game. The 15-year-old from La Center limited Portland Babe Ruth to two runs and two hits in 84 pitches. He also earned eight strikeouts. "I put my whole heart into every pitch," Alvarez said.
The Roosters pose with their regional championship hardware Saturday at David Douglas High School in Portland.
The Roosters pile up on the baseball diamond after defeating Portland Babe Ruth 9-2 Saturday for the Pacific Northwest Regional Championship. These 15-year-olds from La Center, Ridgefield, Woodland and Vancouver are going to play in the Babe Ruth World Series August 9-16 in Longview, Washington.
A baseball club of 15-year-old roosters from La Center, Ridgefield, Woodland and Vancouver are going to play in the Babe Ruth World Series August 9-16 in Longview.
Down by five runs at the start of Saturday’s Pacific Northwest regional semifinal game at David Douglas High School in Portland, Oregon, the Roosters scored 11 runs in the bottom of the first inning and defeated the Southern Oregon all-star team 13-7.
Facing Portland Babe Ruth in the finals, the Roosters scored seven runs in the bottom of the third inning, secured a 9-2 victory and became Pacific Northwest Regional Champions.
“This team is truly family,” said manager David Chicks. “I’ve coached some great teams in almost 50 years of coaching. This is one of the best teams I have ever been involved with because they are a family. They believe in themselves.”
The fun started Saturday morning when the Roosters scored nine runs before their first out in the game. Cade Reitzenstein delivered an RBI double, Mike Goode added an RBI single, Easton Ortega chipped in with a 2-run single and Alex Wood walked with the bases loaded to tie the score at 5-5. Derek Kropp roped a 2-run single, Irving Alvarez stroked an RBI single and Reitzenstein hit a sacrifice fly for his second RBI of the inning. Good capped off the 11-run frame for the Rooster with 2-run single. He drove in three during that inning.
“It was a big adrenaline rush,” Goode said. “Everybody knew that’s what we were capable of. It was a great way to start off the day and show these teams that we were going to do whatever it took to get to the World Series.”
Portland scored a run to start the championship game, but the Roosters settled down and got three outs in a row. Irving retired the side on the mound in the second inning. The Roosters turned a double play to end the top of the third. And then, more fireworks.
James Kruse led off the bottom of the third with a double, Alvarez added a single and Reitzenstein bunted to for base hit to load the bases. Aiden Hundt tied the score with a single and Goode drove in two to put the Roosters up 3-1. Ortega, Wood and Alvarez also brought home runs to give the Roosters a 7-1 advantage.
“We thought back to our last game. We were down by five but we scored 11 runs in one inning,” Goode said. “So one run is absolutely nothing.”
Alvarez took over from there. He completed the game on 84 pitched and allowed just one more run to score. He also earned eight strikeouts.
“I wanted to get to the World Series,” Alvarez. “I put my whole heart into every pitch.”
After winning state in La Center and region in Portland, the Roosters are ready to make some more noise in Cowlitz County.
“Might as well win it all,” Alvarez said. “Our goal was to get to the World Series. We were one game away last year. Now let’s have some fun.”
Chicks hopes to see lots of Clark County baseball fans cheering for the Roosters at David Story Field in Longview.
“If you want to watch a good baseball team and a great group of young men, this is the team to come and watch because they believe they are a family and they really are,” he said. “This is the Rooster baseball family, period.”
