On Saturday, the Babe Ruth Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament came to an end as the host team Carbon Battle Baseball, working their way back through the one-loss bracket, closed out the Bel Mateo All-Stars from Northern California in back-to-back games, earning Battle their spot in the Babe Ruth World Series in Jamestown, New Yor,k starting on August 14.

Battle’s run began back on Monday when they faced the Central California team from Lompoc, handing them an 11-0 loss. Moving into Tuesday, where they would face one of two teams from Hawaii, Battle was handed their first loss of the tournament, 4-2, which would drop them into the first loss round. Logging wins over the next few days against a pair of teams from California and Hawaii, Battle found their way back to the Championship round, where they would face Bel Mateo from California.

Bel Mateo reached the final round with an unblemished 3-0 record, and Battle entered the contest with a 5-1 mark.  Battle got on the board in the first inning with Nate Tatton scoring the first run on an error. Next batter up was Jace Bosone, who would ground out to second, driving Jaxton Smith home and advancing Alex Martinez to third. Martinez would score off an Austin Leonard single to put Battle in the lead 3-0. Battle moved the score to 4-0 as Jacen Cowley scored on an error by the third baseman in the second. In the fifth, Battle scored off another error as Rigdon Rhoten put the score at 5-0.

Bel Mateo would cut into the Battle lead in the fifth, adding three runs, but still trailed 5-3.

In the bottom of the inning, Battle found their bats to the tune of eight runs. With the score at 8-3, Tatton would get things going with a score off a wild pitch, then with two on and Bosone at the plate, he would send one to center, driving in Martinez and Smith, putting the score at 11-3. The final blow came in the form of a Cowley single that brought Rhoten home to end game one 13-3 in five innings.

Smith went 3-4 in the contest, driving in a pair of runs.  Leonard also went 3-4 with an RBI, and Cowley was 3-4 as well with a pair of runs and an RBI.

Rhoten got the start on the mound, going 4.1 innings, surrendering three earned runs on four hits, and striking out two. Leonard closed out the contest.

Half an hour after the first contest ended, game two started, and Battle was up first. They would make the most of the inning with a pair of outs. Rhoten sent a single to right field, bringing Smith into score. Leonard hit a grounder and reached on an error by the shortstop, advancing Bosone to third and Rhoten to second. Bosone would score off a walk of Cowley, and in his next at bat, Jacen Urbanik drove in Rhoten to move the score to 3-0 in the top half of the first.

Bel Mateo added a single run in the bottom of the first to cut into the lead 3-1. Things went quiet for both teams until Battle added a single run in the top of the sixth when Martinez drove in Smith with a sacrifice fly to center.  Battle went on to hold Bel Mateo off the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth, and then turned on the offense in the top of the seventh.

With the score at 6-1, Urbanik scored off a wild pitch with Smith at the plate, and a couple of pitches later, Callan Donaldson scored on a passed ball. Martinez was up next, and after a pair of pitches, Tatton would score on a wild pitch. Martinez sent a single to right field, driving in Smith and putting the lead at 10-1. Batlle closed out Bel Mateo in the bottom of the seventh to take the 10-1 lead and advance to the World Series in August.

Smith went 3-4 and scored three runs. Urbanik had a big game with a 3-4 performance, driving in two runs and scoring one. Martinez was 2-4 with a pair of RBIs in the win.

Leonard got the start on the hill, putting in 3.2 innings, giving up one run on four hits, and striking out three. Smith closed it out with three hits and struck out six.

Carbon will now advance to the World Series, which will take place in Jamestown, New York, beginning on August 14.

The team has set up a Venmo account to help offset some of the travel costs, and you can donate to the cause if you’d like.

You can find the account by clicking HERE.