Ten years ago, the Helena Capitals Major Bambino All-Stars team won the 1998 state baseball championship for 11-12 year olds. At the Western Montana All-Star tournament - which included a team a managed by a former Major Leaguer - the Capitals shaded their rival Helena Americans by one run for the third straight time. They went on to post two victories at Regionals in Kennewick, Wash.

"It was a great team, and the turning point of that season came after the kids got a few pointers from some of the Helena Brewers," recalled Paul Grevas, who assisted as a coach for the '98 Capitals. "One weekend we invited three or four of the Brewers to give instructions to the team. Listening to the professionals really inspired the guys - they were never the same after that."

At the Helena Babe Ruth Invitational (now the Fourth of July tourney), in the semi-finals the Helena Capitals defeated Deer Lodge 3-1 to advance to the championship game. In the title contest, they lost an 8-1 decision to Medicine Hat to finish as runners-up.

The following weekend at the District 2 tournament at Ryan Exchange Fields, the Capital All-Stars lost to their intra-city rival Americans in early action, but fought their way back through the losers bracket to get to the championship tilt. In the semis, they vanquished North Valley 11-6, behind the bats of Alex Grevas, BJ Underkofler and Zeb McCall. Grevas drove in three runs, while Underkofler and McCall stroked two hits apiece. Morgan Cerovski pitched two innings of no-hit ball.

Manager Tony Herbert's charges had to beat the Helena Americans twice to win the crown, which they did in a pair of cliffhangers, 11-10 and 9-8. In the first game, McCall went 3-for-3 with four runs batted in. Levi Samuelson fired two shutout innings on the hill.

"Oh my, is there a doctor is the house?" asked the Independent Record of the second game. "There might be a few parents and players suffering from mild coronaries after the Helena Capital All-Stars pulled off a 9-8 win over the Helena American All-Stars in District 2 Major Bambino championship action."

Helena Capital clinched the crown in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Andy Herbert hit a bases loaded sacrifice fly to left field to bring home the winning run. "What I remember of that game is that Andy Herbert went from goat to hero," Grevas said. "First he got picked off, then he came back to win the game for us."

At the Western Montana State Bambino Tournament in Darby, the Helena Capital's went undefeated to cop the crown. They beat the Clark Fork Valley All-Stars 18-4, the Helena Americans 6-5 and the Bitteroot North Valley All-Stars 15-2, to advance to the title contest. In the finals, the Capital All-Stars prevailed 10-4 over North Valley.

In their third successive 1-run victory over Helena's Americans, Alex Grevas hit a 2-run game-winning homer in the final stanza. The Americans were managed by Ken McLaughlin. Their roster was composed of J.T. Berg, Luke DenHerder, Steve Bugni, Levi Diehl, Chris Doughty, Nick Harris, Robert Kane, Chance McDowell, Jason McLaughlin, Willie Parriman, Andy Salo and Marti Aldrich.

Levi Samuelson was named tourney MVP. In the championship game, he pitched the win and drove in five runs at the plate. "We had a lot of good players, but Levi usually carried us," Grevas said.

McCall and Trevor Barton both hit over .500 in the tourney.

One of the squads competing were the Whitefish All-Stars, who were managed by former Los Angeles Dodger and New York Yankee, Steve Howe. Howe's son was the star shortstop and pitcher for Whitefish.

The Helena Capitals entered the Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament in Kennewick with a 14-2 record. Playing in temperatures exceeding 104 degrees, they went 2-2 at Regionals. Capitals' two wins came over the Montana Eastern champion Glasgow, 10-3, and Rexburg, Idaho. BJ Underkofler spun three scoreless innings versus Glasgow, while Zeb McCall, Alex Grevas and Barton produced three base raps apiece. The win solidified Helena's position as the state Major Bambino champions a decade ago.

"That tournament was extremely competitive," related Paul Grevas. "Kennewick was a huge baseball town, I think every third home had a batting cage in their back yard. And the kids seemed more mature, too. There was one 12-year old there who was already shaving."

The remainder of the 1998 Helena Capitals' roster not previously mentioned includes Brock Harris, Tony Martello, T.J. Morrison, Tyler Grove, Quinn Noel and coach Larry Barton.