“The Babe Ruth 13-year-old All-Stars opened district tournament play in fine fashion on Friday. C.J. Hall threw a complete-game one-hitter and the team knocked off South Kitsap 4-2 at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds in Silverdale.But it was a vastly different story on Saturday when the team endured a 19-4 thumping by Central Kitsap.First the wheels came off, said coach Jon Kroman, and then the rest of the car parts.Saturday’s later loser-out rematch with South Kitsap started off in much the same way as Bainbridge fell behind 8-1 after three innings. Though they rallied to close to within two runs, they couldn’t overcome the initial deficit and the resulting 9-7 loss eliminated them from the tournament.The team opened Friday’s game with two runs in the first inning as J.K. Spencer and Cameron Wagner singled. Spencer scored on an error and Wagner came home on Brenden Gent’s sacrifice fly. South Kitsap halved the margin in the fifth on an error and their only base hit, a triple. But Bainbridge scored two more in the seventh as Paul de Barros walked and moved to third on an errant pickoff attempt. He scored as Wagner laid down a perfect squeeze bunt and beat the throw to first. Gent’s double scored Wagner.South Kitsap scored a run in its half of the seventh and put the tying runs on base with two outs but the threat ended when Hall fanned the next hitter.With Willy Delius taking over the pitching in Saturday’s second game in the fourth and holding South Kitsap to one run over the final four innings, his teammates rallied for three runs in the fifth. Hall drove in one with a fielder’s choice and David Kroman’s double scored two more. Bainbridge added another three-spot in the next inning on Gent’s sacrifice fly and Hall’s two-run double, but went down in order in the seventh.We played well in two of the three games, said Kroman. We just ran short of pitching due to some injury problems. Three games in two days hurt us.But I was proud of the way that we came back in the third game and made it close.14s earn berth at state tournamentThe Bainbridge 14-year-old Babe Ruth All-Star team got off on the wrong foot in last weekend’s district tournament in Port Orchard. They had just four hits and dropped a tough 2-1 decision to a South Kitsap team that had won the state championship last year as 13-year-olds.But Bainbridge rallied for three straight wins, the final two against South Kitsap, to earn the district’s berth in the state tournament at Port Angeles. The team has an opening round bye and begins play on Friday at 5:30 p.m.We are ecstatic! said manager Mike Patterson. And we feel very good about our chances in the state tournament. The South Kitsap coach said it was unfortunate that we had to play each other in district, because we’re probably the two best teams in the state.It was a total team effort, Patterson added. We stayed focused even though we were playing on a South Kitsap field in front of South Kitsap fans.All of Friday’s scoring came in the first two innings. Bainbridge scored its lone run in the first as Kevin Roach singled, moved to third via outs and came home on a balk.It was a far different story on Saturday as the team jumped on Central Kitsap for six runs in the first and three more in the second en route to a 15-2 win in a game called after five innings due to the 10-run rule. The team had 11 hits, spread throughout the lineup. Zach Peach had two hits and two runs, Jon Williams had a double and two runs, while Matt Frazee and Grant Leslie both had a hit and three runs. Peach held South Kitsap in check in Sunday’s first game and had two hits. He received outstanding support in the field in what coach Earl Williams termed our best-ever showing defensively. His teammates turned three double plays, two of them the more difficult third-to-second-to first combination. Bainbridge made the most of its six hits, as South Kitsap left the bases loaded four times.Bainbridge scored twice in the fourth to break a scoreless tie as Roach singled, moved to second on Kris Patterson’s sacrifice and scored on a single by Peach. Following a walk to Frazee, Leslie singled in Peach. The team added two in the fifth and one in the sixth to win 5-1.The two teams squared off again almost immediately with Kris Patterson on the mound for Bainbridge. He allowed just one run and his teammates supported him with ten hits as Bainbridge emerged with a 7-1 triumph. The fourth was again the key inning as Leslie walked, Jon Williams had a bunt single, David Vanderhoek walked and all three scored on South Kitsap errors.Williams had three hits and three runs, while Vanderhoek added two hits and two runs.I can’t say enough about these guys and the way they came back after losing a tough game on Friday night, Mike Patterson said. This was just a very satisfying victory.15s open state tourney tonightAn old maxim says that pitching is 90 percent of baseball. The Bainbridge 15-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars demonstrated that in the first two games of the District tournament at Legion Field in Bremerton.Then they filled in the remaining 10 percent with clutch hitting in Sunday’s final game, for a three-game sweep that qualified the team for the state tournament in Poulsbo.Their opening game is tonight against host North Kitsap at 6 p.m. at Snider Field.North is always tough but so are we, said coach Kevin Magraw. I expect a good game.He certainly got one in Friday’s tournament first game 7-0 win against host Bremerton. Nathan Gottlieb threw a four-hit complete game and struck out five.Kyle Rohl, Mike Ersser and Hunter Merkle all had two hits to lead the offense. Rohl had a double and two RBIs and Dan Canfield also drove in a pair of runs.Our defense was great and we were hitting the ball, said Magraw. It’s great when both parts of the game come together at the same time.Ersser was almost as effective on Saturday, throwing a five-hitter as Bainbridge defeated Central Kitsap 5-1. Merkle led the offense with two hits and four RBIs. Schuyler Boone, Adam Knappe and Scott Rasmussen also had a pair of hits.Again outstanding defense gave nothing to Central Kitsap, Magraw said.On Sunday against South Kitsap, the pitching and fielding faltered somewhat in a seesaw game which witnessed several lead changes.Ryan Magraw’s double in the fourth inning drove in a pair of runs to give Bainbridge a 5-3 lead, but South Kitsap came back in the fifth to score four runs and take a 7-5 edge. After a scoreless sixth, Rasmussen opened the seventh for Bainbridge with a single. Boone reached on an error. Ersser drove in Rasmussen on a fielder’s choice, Dan Canfield’s suicide squeeze bunt scored Boone with the tying run, and Ersser scored the go-ahead run on an error. But South Kitsap tied the game in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings.Rasmussen got things going in the top of the eighth with a leadoff double, advanced to third on Boone’s single, and Magraw drove both runners home with a single. Knappe’s single drove in Marrow to give Bainbridge an 11-8 lead.Gottlieb threw a perfect bottom of the eighth and Bainbridge went home happy.Rasmussen and Knappe each had three hits, while Magraw, Rohl and Boone all had two. It was an exciting game, Kevin Magraw said. South Kitsap is always tough. They battled to the end and took advantage of our mistakes but we did not give in. This team fought the whole game and came out on top. Clutch hitting by Magraw, Boone and Rasmussen were monumental in the win.I would have to say that we played a solid series. Defense for the most part was very good, we hit the ball very well with runners in scoring position and our pitchers threw a lot of strikes. These are the things coaches hope will happen and I am extremely proud of the way these guys performed. 11-12s split in district playThe Bainbridge 11-12-year-old All-Stars split a pair of weekend games in the Little League district tournament at Chimacum to move within a game of elimination. But the team played North Kitsap National last night, and a win in that game would provide them with a rematch tonight against Gig Harbor American. Bainbridge wins in both games would set up a Thursday game for the championship.Bainbridge jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first inning in Saturday’s game against South Kitsap Western and cruised to a 10-0 win in a game called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.Coby Gibler threw a two-hit shutout for Bainbridge.He did a great job, said coach Dick Henshaw. He was really sharp.Gibler helped his own cause with a two-run homer in the fourth. Peter Huisinga added a solo shot and a double, Nash Hensen singled and tripled, and Peter Leslie had two singles as Bainbridge banged out 10 hits.The kids played really well, said Henshaw. They played great defense too, and didn’t commit any errors. They were on fire that day.Gig Harbor’s pitcher threw some cold water on the flames on Sunday, allowing just three hits, two of them by Hensen.He kept us off-balance all day, said Henshaw.But Bainbridge’s Robbie Stevenson was just as effective as neither team could score in the first four innings.Bainbridge took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth when Hensen singled, advanced to second and third on passed balls, then came home as the Gig Harbor catcher overthrew third.But they couldn’t hold the lead. A Gig Harbor hitter reached base on an error in the top of the sixth and scored on a double for a 1-1 tie that forced extra innings.Gig Harbor scored twice in the top of the seventh on two singles, a sacrifice and passed ball and Bainbridge went down 1-2-3 in their half of the inning.It was just a great ballgame between two closely matched teams, Henshaw said.9-10s ousted by Port TownsendThe Bainbridge Island 9-10-year-old Gold All-Star team was eliminated from Little League district tournament play at Chimacum last weekend after falling victim to a pair of last-inning rallies.The team had captured earlier wins over Key Peninsula 13-0 and North Kitsap American 6-5, but lost to South Kitsap Southern 7-6 on Friday and Port Townsend 4-3 on Saturday.Friday’s contest saw Bainbridge Gold head into the bottom of the fifth inning with a 6-2 lead, but three Gold errors and a bases-clearing double knotted the score at 6-6 to send the game into extra innings. South Kitsap used a double in the bottom of the seventh with one out to plate the winning run. Will Watson and Brendan Gawlowski both had three hits to lead the offense. Watson scored twice and Gawlowski added a third run. Mike Stevenson, Colin Feldtman, Michael Callahan and Mackenzie Bond also had hits. On Saturday, visiting Bainbridge rode the outstanding pitching of Callahan and Feldtman before breaking open a scoreless game in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 3-0 lead into the final frame. Port Townsend then rallied behind six walks to push across four runs to pull off the upset.We outhit and outplayed them, said coach Rick Watson, noting that his team had ten hits to just three for the home team. Sam McAllister and Callahan both had two hits.The kids played a terrific tournament, Watson said. Unfortunately, we were on the short end in a couple of games. “