Last Thursday, the Vernal Cal Ripkin League 12-year-old baseball team lost their first game of the State Championships to Gunnison, only to roar back on a six-game winning streak to take home the state trophy, a comeback victory made sweeter by happening on the team’s home turf, the new Vernal baseball complex.

“We came out a little bit overconfident,” said assistant coach Ryan Birch. “We were playing the lowest ranked team, and we thought we were going to easily win, but we ended up losing 5-3.”

This put their “backs against the wall,” he said, putting the team in the loser’s bracket, meaning in order to have a shot at the state title, the team had no room for error.

“We couldn’t lose another game or we were done.”

So they didn’t. The team went on to win two games a day for six straight games, beating the competition in a decisive victory that will send them to the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament for a shot at the Babe Ruth League World Series later this year.

The critical moment came in game three of the championships, when the team took on Delta, a team they’d been defeated by last year and were, rightly, wary of.

“Our kids basically felt like they’d won the World Series when they beat Delta,” said assistant coach Kam Pope. “We were on cloud nine, and we knew nobody else could stop us after that.”

The team was pitted against Richfield in the last two games for the title. The first of the two games was emotional for the team, according to Birch, with the team having worked its way back to the top and needing a two-game victory to take the trophy.

In a tight game that saw the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 4th, Caden Birch hit a three-run homer to break the tie, helping the team get the win.

“The next morning the kids were riding high,” he said.

The team faced a defeated but determined Richfield again in the final game Thursday morning. Joe Harris stepped up on the pitcher’s mound and “just pitched a very good game,” said head coach Kirt Pummell. Harris held Richfield to two runs in the first three innings, then turned the mound over to Tyson Colton who finished the game off, shutting Richfield out of the last three innings.

“The pair really kept Richfield’s hitters off balance, and kept them guessing,” said Birch.

Trevor Lofhouse and Tyson Colton both hit home runs in the first innings, getting the team’s energy and the flow started and putting them in the groove to win, said Birch.

Richfield hit two runs in as well, tying the game up 2-2 through the 4th inning.

All tied up, Richfield had a man on second and third and was poised to bring another run in, with only one out for the inning. Vernal desperately needed to turn the game, and they knew it.

A Richfield batter came up and hit a sharp ground-ball into the hole between first and second. “Second-baseman Braxton Blackburn fielded an awesome ground ball, then tossed it to me,” said team member Trevor Pummell.

“I got it and threw it to (Trevor Lofthouse) at first for a double play.”

The double play turned the tide, giving Vernal the momentum they needed to win.

“That double play really got the attention of everyone. That was a big play,” said Pummell. “(Richfield was) just half a second away from pulling two more in that game.”

Vernal then brought in two more runs, making the score 4-2. The game ended as Tyson Colton struck out Richfield’s batter with a “wicked curve ball,” according to Birch, handing the Vernal boys the victory they’d been fighting for.

The Vernal team has been playing together during summer league and on a traveling team for about four years, and have become familiar with each other, learning to work together as a team, according to Pummell.

“They just came together and just did fantastic this year.”

“It’s pretty easy to coach these boys, actually, because these kids are all great ball players. It’s a coach’s dream to have a team like this. Any of the boys can play any position, so it’s pretty easy coaching,” he said.

“Our kids came to the championship game pumped and stoked and they weren’t gonna go home in second place,” said Pope.

“I think I was as excited, or more excited than, the kids. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a child to go to a regional tournament. We’ve been close a couple of years, but this year we did it,” said Birch.

The team heads to the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament in Long Beach, Calif., next week, with their first game against Hawaii on July 26.

“We’re gonna be very competitive, and we’re looking forward to the first game out of the bag,” said coach Pummell.

“If we can manage to come out with a win in that tournament, the next step is the Little League World Series, which would be just fantastic to bring this group of boys to.”

In order to do that, the team will have to beat Hawaii, Guam, Northern California, Southern California, Central California, Long Beach, Arizona and Nevada.

But the team is positive.

“I don’t think there’s anyone we can’t play with,” said assistant coach Birch.

“We’re gonna go out and play hard, and I think we’re gonna do pretty good,” said team member Trevor Pummell.

All three coaches said the team couldn’t have succeeded without the generous support of local families and businesses who have donated money, gear, food and time throughout the season.

Colton said the secret to the team’s success was “hard work, and just going outside with dad and mom and sisters and brothers to practice.”

—gparker@vernal.com