Sandpoint Sasquatch 14U places third at spring training tournament

MESA, ARIZONA —The U14 Sandpoint Sasquatch baseball team fell victim to snowy conditions at Memorial Field. The elements prevented them from practicing outside before its longest road trip in team history.

The Sasquatch traveled to Mesa, Arizona to compete in their first tournament of the year at the brand new Bell Bank Park Sports Complex.

The lack of outside practice didn’t prevent Sandpoint from earning a third place finish at the tournament and defeating teams that had more than 80 games under their belt.

The Sasquatch faced off against teams from Arizona and California.

When Sandpoint arrived at Mesa, there were sunny skies with a high of 70 degrees, which was a welcomed change from the constant bipolar weather of Sandpoint.

The Bell Bank Park Sports Complex included an all-turf field equipped with lights, meaning the players were able to play into the night.

“It was extremely fun for them,” Sandpoint Sasquatch assistant coach Matthew Williams said. “They loved playing at a new facility that just opened in January.”

After knocking off the rust on day one of the three day tournament, Sandpoint started to find their stride and remembered what it's like to be on the field.

“They started playing cohesively as a team and began to crush it,” Williams said. “We had our two pitchers pitch extremely well.”

The two Sandpoint pitchers, Sage Medeiros and Dallen Williams, took control of the mound throughout the tournament with Mederios serving as the opener and Williams as the closer.

“It took a lot of heart for [Sage] Mederios to pitch four innings for six straight games,” Matthew Williams said. “[Dallen] Williams closed out the final game with the bases loaded and struck out the last batter.”

The Sasquatch beat the Lopez Dirt Dawgs 2-1 in the third place game. Mederios had a big day on the mound, allowing zero runs on four hits, striking out five.

Lopez got the better end of Sandpoint in their first meeting on Friday, March 11, 9-1, but once the Sasquatch got into bracket play, they knew it was win or go home, according to Williams.

“They’re at an age where they know the stakes,” Williams said. “They needed to go out there and play good baseball.”

Multiple teams competing at the Spring Training tournament have played year-round with tremendous amounts of depth in their dugouts. This makes the feat of the 14U team, who’s just getting its legs underneath them, just that much more impressive.

“The team that won the championship had 300 kids tryout for their team,” Williams said. “It was good for us to see because we saw teams who could be sharp and have good sportsmanship, the whole package. That’s what our boys are setting up to become and they showed that.”

Williams said that everyone played their role and helped the Sasquatch reach the podium by the end of the tournament.

“It was an exceptional team effort,” Williams said. “All the boys started to play exceptionally well by Sunday.”

Sandpoint’s bats also started to heat up by the end of the weekend. During the start of the tournament, the Sasquatch were a bit cold at the plate.

“We were pretty dead at the beginning to tell the truth,” Williams said. “We struck out a lot to start, in our first game against the Dirt Dawgs, we struck out eight times.”

The strike out numbers began to decline as the games kept going, in its game against the Renegades, Sandpoint struck out three times.

By the end of the tournament, seven out of Sandpoint’s 10 players who played in all six games hit above .300.

The best player at the dish was Dallen Williams, who was an effective .688 with 11 hits including two doubles, two triples, and 7 RBI.

The U14 team typically doesn’t go further than six hours away, but some sponsorships along with the parents made the trip possible.

“The families stepped up big time,” Williams said. “Some of them even drove down and shared hotel rooms. They were a huge asset to the team.”

The Sasquatch is in its second year of existence at the U14 level. The coaching staff is Williams, head coach Dustin Reichart, and Don Little. The Sasquatch is always looking to add depth, according to Williams.

“We keep our roster open so we can add players,” Williams said. “We’re looking to add some depth and we’re always looking for new talent.”

The Sasquatch ’s next scheduled game is on March 25 in Yakima.