Trouts heading upstream

Platte Valley Little League has finished its regular season and is now preparing for the District 2 Tournament in Laramie from July 15 to July 20.

According to Head Coach Ben Spaulding, his team has an opportunity to represent the state of Wyoming if they can get past the District 2 Tournament and win the State Championship. He said his team has a long way to go but they could earn a ticket to Davenport, Iowa and represent Team USA in the Little League World Series.

“The way it works is we have a regular season of 12 games," Spaulding said. “Kids are supposed to make eight of those games and each player is selected by their coaches to fill a roster and play six days of baseball with three guaranteed games. There is also a double-elimination, if a team loses twice they are out of the tournament. If you lose one game you can move into a consolation bracket.”

Spaulding said each team in the consolation bracket still has a chance to win District 2 depending on if they are the top winner. The winner of the District 2 tournament advances to the state tournament and plays the winner from District 1. The team that wins the state tournament will earn the right to represent Wyoming and play at regionals in San Bernardino, California. Spaulding said whoever wins in San Bernardino goes on to Davenport.

To help end the regular season, a scrimmage between players and their parents and coaches was held on June 27. According to Spaulding, parent involvement with the team has been great.

“We throw a parents versus kids game as part of the end-of-the-season celebration,” Spaulding said. “It is a great way to get the parents involved and have fun.”

According to Spaulding, Platte Valley Little League had another year with great numbers. He also said the coaching staff changed a few things, having more kids from ages 9 to 12 pitching this year.

“We faced tough competition,” said Spaulding. “The kids worked on their baseball knowledge and did well.”