Northstars 17U Shakes Up July 4 Tournament

The extra work of the summer months, that will benefit local high school programs next spring, continued with six games last week for the Tri-County Northstars 17U program. Tri-County got back on the winning side of the ledger in their final pool play game of the American Legion Fourth of July Wood Bat Tournament on July 4 at Mead High School with an 8-4 victory over Mead.

Ian Olietti scored twice and had a home run to go with two walks. Pay- ton Talmich added two hits and Paxson Tobeck scored twice and drew a pair of walks. Nathan Lee contributed two runs batted in.

They concluded tournament play at Mt. Spokane High School on July 5 against Changeup Baseball Academy. Selectivity at the plate with six walks and an equal number of hit batters equated to an 11-3 victory. Olietti was hit by pitch three times and Caden Knudsvig twice. Issac Wadleigh walked twice and scored two runs. Olietti ended up with three runs scored and two driven in. Talmich had two hits and Hunter Robb three. Cody Wilson scored three times while Tobeck scored twice with a pair of walks.

They opened tournament play on July 4 against Calgary Premier Blues. In the top of the second inning, Payson Hansen walked and courtesy runner Knudsvig scored. Simon Wood scored following an infield single for a 2-0 lead. Calgary would tally the next five runs before a Tri-County rally in the sixth closed the gap.

Hansen singled and Wood doubled. Justin Sturm was hit by a pitch to drive in one and Lee drove in another on a fielder’s choice, closing the margin to 5-4 after the Northstars left the bases loaded. The Blues would add two runs prior to the game ending on time limit. Wood had two hits and two runs scored, while Tobeck walked three times.

In game two of the day, Tri-County faced the Spokane Crew and again the Northstars jumped on top, this time 2-0 in the bottom of the first. Wadleigh walked and scored, and Olietti singled and came around to score. Olietti ended up with two hits as the Crew scored the next eight runs for an 8-2 win. July 4 opened with a game against the Mount Vernon Riverdogs.

Tri-County was held to two hits but did steal six bases with Knudsvig, Wadleigh, and Nikoli Hunsaker each swiping a pair of bags. The week opened on June 30 against the Mt. Spokane Wild at Dave Franklin Field. The visitors methodically put up the first 10 runs of the game before taking the 10-3 decision. Tri-County got on the board in the bottom of the seventh inning when Wood drove in two with a double. Carson Byrd and Levi Olietti walked and scored and Ian Olietti was hit by a pitch and scored.

The same two teams met one night later at Mt. Spokane High School with a much tighter contest in store. The Wild would limit Tri-County to four hits in a 3-2 victory. The regular season concludes with a pair of games against the Cheney Summerhawks Wednesday, July 8, at home and Thursday, July 9, on the road. District tournament play opens at yet to be determined host sites on July 15 and continues on July 17-18.