St. Paul Hi-Tower defeated Waite Park handedly by a 14-2 margin to win the 2017 Babe Ruth 13U state championship game Saturday, July 25 at the Multi Events Center in Thief River Falls.
The championship game was a rematch from Thursday afternoon, when the two teams met in pool play. Waite Park won the opener and added wins over Roseau and Bemidji to win its pool and claim the top seed entering Saturday’s semifinal round. Waite Park was an 8-2 winner over Baxter in the semifinals before falling to St. Paul Hi-Tower in the championship.
After its opening game loss to Waite Park, St. Paul Hi-Tower won four straight Bemidji, Roseau, Baxter and Waite Park, respectively, to clinch the tournament championship.
Baxter went 2-1 in pool play to guarantee itself a spot in the top four. After falling 8-2 to St. Paul Hi-Tower, Baxter doubled up Moorhead 6-3 to take third.
Moorhead also went 2-1 in pool play and took fourth overall after dropping back-to-back decisions to Waite Park and Moorhead.
Host Thief River Falls went 1-2 in pool play, with a 7-3 comeback win over Warroad on Thursday. The Prowlers were eliminated from contention with back-to-back losses to Baxter and Moorhead, respectively, on Friday.
Results
• Pool play Thursday: Thief River Falls 7, Warroad 3; Bemidji 5, Roseau 1; Baxter 11, Moorhead 0; Waite Park 8, St. Paul Hi-Tower 7; St. Paul Hi-Tower 14, Bemidji 2; Warroad 5, Baxter 0.
• Pool play Friday: Waite Park def. Roseau; Baxter 10, Thief River Falls 0; Moorhead over Warroad; St. Paul Hi-Tower over Roseau; Moorhead over. Thief River Falls; Waite Park over. Bemidji.
• Semifinals – St. Paul Hi-Tower 8, Baxter 2; Waite Park 8, Moorhead 4;
• Third place – Baxter 6, Moorhead 3.
• Championship – St. Paul Hi-Tower 14, Waite Park 2.