The Dogs are back in town, on the trail of another Senior Babe Ruth World Series championship
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Dave Johnson, left, and manager Randy Boruff are part of the five-man staff coaching the Columbia Basin River Dogs at the 2018 Senior Babe Ruth World Series in Jamestown, N.Y.
JAMESTOWN, NY — The official program reads that Columbia, Wash., is representing the Pacific Northwest Region. But then again, so does the record book every time they win a national title. It makes no difference, the Dogs are back in town and they’re on the trail of another Senior Babe Ruth World Series championship.
The Columbia Basin River Dogs have hosted the World Series the past couple of years, so this year will be a little different. They arrived in Jamestown, N.Y. to take part in the 10-team tournament at Russell E. Diethrick Jr. Park on the campus of Jamestown Community College. Opening ceremonies are on Saturday. The River Dogs, who are in the National pool, open with the Southwest champions from Mobile, Ala., which has won the tournament seven times since 2000 and eliminated the defending champions from Mid County, Texas, to get there.
“I think we’re in pretty good shape. I thought it was good to be tested in Seattle in the last tournament,” River Dogs manager Randy Boruff said. “We’re healthy. We’re excited and we’ll see what happens with a tough opponent right off the bat.”
The teams will play four round-robin games over the first five days. Each team will play the other four teams in their division. The tie-breakers will be based on head-to-head records and fewest total runs allowed.
The top three teams in each division will advance to a single elimination bracket.
Columbia Basin faces the Mid Atlantic champion from Williamsport, Pa., in the second round on Monday and the Western New York champions from the Onondaga nation on Tuesday. They wrap up pool play on Wednesday against the Ohio Valley champions from Crown Point, Ind.
They have more than enough challenges with the baseball talent, but when you throw in the three-hour time zone change, humidity and weather conditions on the other side of the country, there’s a lot to get used to in a hurry.
“We won it in North Carolina and anytime you have to travel it brings different kinds of challenges. I know that humidity can be challenging,” said Gabe Boruff, who was a part of the 1998 River Dog team that won a championship in Dare County, N.C. “But you overcome those challenges playing with the team you’ve been with all summer. It’s important to get it into the player’s mind, it’s just another baseball game. The kids have played in big moments and they’re going to use those experiences to help them get through it.”
Keep your eye on the prize, said Jason Cooper, who was on the 1998 River Dogs team and also played amateur ball with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod League (2000-01).
“The key here is how quickly our players can adjust to the time change, get their bearings and stay focused on the task at hand,” said Cooper, who is the only player to win the Cape Cod League's All-Star Game home run contest two consecutive summers. “It’s a new field, new crowd and unfamiliar settings, but similar dimensions. They need to stay focused on the task at hand once they cross that chalk line.
“It’s always important and healthy to enjoy it. They need to realize how far they’ve come and what it means to represent our community. But always keep winning at the forefront, no matter the positive or negative distractions in the peripheral or urge to settle for just being there in the first place.”
The World Series championship game will be played Aug. 11. For information on the schedule and results, visit http://www.jamestownworldseries.org/tournament.html
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