SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The Billings Little League baseball all-stars are back at it.
Boulder-Arrowhead opened the Northwest Regional Monday afternoon in San Bernardino, Calif., blasting Alaska’s state champions 11-0. The team from Juneau had beaten Oregon 2-1 in its first game of the tournament. Billings had an opening-round bye.
The 11-12-year-old B-A all-stars jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, added another in the second, and two more in the fourth before slamming the door with a seven-run sixth inning. Billings out-hit Juneau 9-4.
The tournament is double-elimination with no pool play.
B-A is off until Thursday when it faces Monday night’s winner between Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Gillette, Wyoming. Thursday’s game is scheduled for 1 p.m. MDT. Thursday’s winner will play Saturday at 1 p.m. for the regional championship and a trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn.
The only Montana team ever to reach the LLWS was from Billings in 2011. That team of Big Sky All-Stars went on to play in the American bracket championship game before falling to California.
This year’s Boulder-Arrowhead team reached the Northwest Regional after eliminating Missoula Mt. Sentinel 13-1 in the state championship game.
