Blue Jays end season strongly

BELLE FOURCHE - The Senior Babe Ruth Big Horn Basin Blue Jays battled against Wyoming's and South Dakota's, best at the Wyoming state tournament, from July 6 to July 9 in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, earning a fourth-place finish.

The four-day tournament held in Belle Fourche, who was allowed to join the Wyoming competition for cost effectiveness reasons, tested the Blue Jays physically and mentally. Even with those tests the Blue Jays exceeded expectations by placing fourth.

At the start of the tournament it was thought Belle Fourche and Gillette would be the two teams facing each other for the championship. But this is why the games must be played, Gillette would have a rough tournament and ended up playing in the fifth- and sixth-place game. Belle Fourche's title hopes were dashed by a 12-8 loss at the hands of the Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays also defeated Buffalo 12-6 during the tournament.

In the third/fourth-place game the Blue Jays matched up again with Belle Fourche. This time around Belle Fourche had their revenge defeating the Blue Jays 16-2.

As with any sport there were ups and downs throughout the season but coach David Evans was proud of his team's effort and dedication this summer. "First and foremost this whole season was about the kids. We're a young group and baseball is a humbling sport. You can strike out three times in a game and your next at bat could be for the win. You have to erase what just happened, learn from your mistakes and move on and our crew did that this season," said Evans.

"It was a long tournament," said coach Evans, "We were short staffed and this team fought through that adversity. They were spent the last day of the tournament and still played their tails off ... They showed great sportsmanship all tournament long. The head umpire even pulled me aside and told me 'If there were a sportsmanship award your team would win it, hands down.' To hear that from the head ump makes me more proud as a coach than if we had won every game this season but did it with no class."

Coach Evans also praised his two seniors Eric Herold of Thermopolis and Jordan Wheeler of Worland, "Eric Herold and Jordan Wheeler were our two seniors and keystones to the team. They anchored the team playing first and third and were the leaders that got everyone going and were there to pick their teammates up. They're going to be greatly missed and we wish them the best in their future endeavors"

Looking toward next season Evans was excited for the potential of this team. "We showed a lot of growth this year and they saw what senior Babe Ruth was all about. They kept striving to get better and it showed. We're going to have big shoes to fill with Wheeler and Herold gone but I'm excited for what this team will be able to do."

Coach Evans was also appreciative of all those behind the scenes, "I'd like to thank coach Robert Cardeans," Evans said. "Sometimes with assistant coaches they tend to nod off but Robert was on top of everything. He did an excellent job this season and was a pleasure to coach with. Thanks to Daniela Parra, Deb Larkins and the many other parents who helped organize the team events and kept this operation running smoothly. And thank you to Darren Nutt and the Big Horn Radio Network for broadcasting out games this season."