The Cottonwood Valley League won the District 4 15-year-old Babe Ruth Tournament hosted in Galva last week.
?By winning the Cottonwood Valley League, Canton-Galva got to choose which team they would take to tournament and chose the 15-year-olds,? coach Kelly Nelson said. ?The team was made up of nine boys from Canton-Galva, two from Marion, one from Hillsboro, and one from Peabody.?
After an opening-round, 12-6 loss to the Mid Central League, CVL rolled through the loser?s bracket.
CVL defeated Abilene 12-4.
Then, after falling behind, 6-0, to Mid-Kansas after two innings, managed to come back and win that game, 10-9.
Relief pitcher Nick Bray gave up two hits and three runs in five innings while walking one and striking out four.
The victory over Mid-Kansas pitted CVL against Mid Central a second time for the championship title. CVL won 18-4 in six innings.
?The offense was well spread out with eight players scoring runs,? Nelson said.
Ryan Grant and Tanner Klingensmith each had three hits, Nick Bray recorded two hits and two RBIs, and Kyle Riffel and Caleb Bettles each contributed two RBIs.
Dakota Stimpson was winning pitcher, giving up three hits in 42?3 innings while walking two and striking out five.
With the win, CVL advances to the state tournament in Cherryvale. The team is slated to begin play Friday at 5 p.m.
