The local U12 competitive baseball team took third place in a six-team tournament June 27-28 in Gunnison. 

Two of the teams were from Gunnison, both of which Salida defeated on the first day. The other three were Monte Vista, Montrose and Crested Butte.

The Salidans won their first game 13-11 on June 27 and their second game 14-9. They went into June 28 seeded first but lost to Montrose.

In the first game, “we really played well and our bats were on,” coach Zach Ellis said. Salida scored a lot of runs early on, but Gunnison’s team made a comeback later.

Their second game against Gunnison went similarly, Ellis said. “We came out on fire. … They (Gunnison) kept chipping away … but the deficit was just too much.”

Over the first two games, Milo Miller, 11, had four hits and two RBIs in six at-bats and scored five runs. Kai Micklebart, 11, had seven at-bats, with two home runs and six RBIs, and scored four runs. Jackson White, 12, had eight at-bats, seven hits, four RBIs and five runs scored. Ivan Ziminski, 12, had three RBIs in six at-bats and scored three runs.

Micklebart started as pitcher in the first game, relieved by Graham Witherspoon, 11. In the second game, White, Miller and Jaxon Gillespie, 11, pitched.

In Saturday’s game against Montrose, Nixon Anderson, 11, scored both of Salida’s runs in the 10-2 loss.

Ellis said, “Their pitcher just has a lot of control. We just weren’t able to get the ball in play, and they were.” The Salida team stuck together, however. “Even when we were down, everyone was cheering for each other. We didn’t fold; we went out fighting,” Ellis said.

Nixon said of the tournament, “I just loved how amazing the coaches were … and my team of course; they helped so much.” The second game was his favorite, he said. “It was probably my best game. I just got hits really good.”

The team did a good job of working together, he said, throwing and catching the ball well. They need to work on fielding a little more, he added, and “playing good when we need it.”

Toby Ellis, 12, said he also liked the second game. “I feel like we did good communicating and getting the ball to first base,” he said. Memorable for him, he said, was in the latter innings of the second game, “I was up to bat and I hit the ball pretty far to the outfield.”

The last game taught the team to not give up, Toby said. “We did well, but we just couldn’t stop the ball, making overthrows we shouldn’t have,” he said. For their upcoming tournament, “I’m looking forward to doing better, to be honest,” he said, “and getting better, win or lose.”

Overall the team hit the ball well in this tournament, coach Ellis said. In their next tournament  July 19-20 in Monte Vista, they are guaranteed at least three games, he said. “They need to work on having confidence in themselves.”