It would have been easy for the Helena 13U Braves Babe Ruth baseball team to fold up its tent Sunday afternoon. The Braves had just blown an 8-run lead against the Spokane Vipers in the championship game of the Fourth of July All-Star Invitational Tournament at Ryan-Exchange Fields Sunday.

But a gutsy Helena club, trailing 10-9 going into the bottom of the fifth inning, refused to give up. The Braves quickly tied the score at 10-all, as Colin Volesky led off with a double and went to third base on a wild throw to the infield. Marcus Lindgren then knotted things up with a sacrifice fly to right field.

The Braves held Spokane scoreless in the top of the sixth, thanks to two sparkling defensive gems by catcher Marcus Lindgren. First, he made a tough sliding catch on a foul pop, and then he threw out an attempted base stealer to end the inning.

Next, in the top of the seventh, Troy Arnston provided the winning margin for the Capital City crew, lacing a two-run double to right-centerfield on a full count, bringing home Joe Spradlin and Cody Carroll.

"It was a fastball, and I wasn't planning on hitting it hard, because I just wanted to drive in one run to give us the lead," Arnston said. "But I hit it harder than I wanted, and they both came home, so that was pretty sweet."

Arnston not only drove in the decing runs, but also made two clutch catches in centerfield earlier in the contest.

The Braves added two more insurance runs, on three straight singles by Josh Hunsaker, Volesky and Dave Lindgren.

In the top of the final frame, Volesky relieved Carroll on the mound, while Shane Mitchell went behind the plate and Marcus moved to short. Volesky closed out the victory, aided by a difficult catch of a foul pop by Mitchell alongside the backstop.

It was Mitchell's second web gem against Spokane, as he saved at least two runs with a fine leaping catch in the fifth stanza.

After three innings of a pitching duel, Helena erupted for seven runs in the fourth to go up 9-1, with the big blow being Carroll's RBI triple over the left fielder's head. But the Vipers answered right back in their next at-bat, tallying nine times to edge in front by a run.

David Lindgren started on the hill, before giving way to Carroll.

After making their comeback, Braves' coach Bill Wilkinson told his charges, "That's what happens when you don't quit."

The rest of the champ's roster consists of Rydell Peterson, Quinn Hyndman and Cole Woodland. The Braves are comprised of players from Helena, East Helena, Montana City, Elliston and Townsend. Mike Volesky and Dave Carroll are the assistant coaches.

The Helena 10U All-Stars also made the finals, but settled for the runner-up trophy, losing to the talent-rich Idaho Falls Chukars in the chipper, 17-4. The Helena club advanced to the finals with two tough wins, 15-10 over the Belgrade Bandits, and 9-7 over the Bozeman All-Stars. Henry Bowers, Payton Pappas and Eamonn Byrne collaberated on the pitching in the win over the Bandits, while Jacob Hatzenbuehler hurled the victory over Bozeman.

"Offensively, both of those wins were a total team effort," said 10U coach Steve Bartmess. "Every single player contributed to our success."

The 10U North Jefferson squad lost a heartbreaker in its lone game Sunday, 14-13 to Bozeman. John Allen, Jarred Hunsaker and Ryan Arnston paced NJ at the plate, while Paden Anderson did most of the hill work.

A pair of local clubs finished fourth, as the Helena 14U Havoc dropped the consolation finals 16-3 to Glacier, and the Helena 11-12U All-Stars were shaded by the Belgrade Bandits for third-place, 10-9.

The 11-12U All-Stars beat Whitefish 3-2, before falling to Hamilton 6-1 in the semi-finals.

Danny Burton pitched the complete-game triumph over Hamilton, as Dawson Reiman, Ryan Dorvall, Chase Rook, Keller Balsam and Riley Lamb produced the scoring offense.

The 14U Havoc were shaded in the semis by the Billings Regulators, 5-4.

Coach Ed Shea's charges built a 4-3 lead going into the last inning, behind the pitching of Tanner Rook, and the hitting of Joe Ringling, Zach Grobel, Tristan Shea, Dawson Reardon and Brad Tiefenthaller. The home team threw out two Billings runners at the plate to hold on to the advantage.

But the Regulators accomplished a two-out rally in their final at-bat for the win, on back-to-back triples by Kevin Angeland and Branden Wickam, and Shelby Zorn's single.

Tiefenthaler made a diving, Willie Mays-like catch in deep left-center to prevent further damage. Wickam pitched the win, while Reardon was saddled with the loss.

Winners of the rest of the July 4 championship contests were Hamilton 6, Butte Ballers 1 (11-12U); Bozeman 10, Billings 7 (14U); and Mission Valley 9, Glacier 8 (15U).

Curt Synness: 449-2150 or curt52s@bresnan.net

Sunday's other Babe Ruth scores

10U

Belgrade All-Stars 11, Helena CCU

Columbia Falls 15, Missoula Bombers 3

Idaho Falls 10, Belgrade All-Stars 0

Bozeman 15, Columbia Falls 3 (third place)

11-12U

Belgrade Bandits 9, Helena Redemption 0

Butte Ballers 4, Bozeman 3

Gallatin Valley 14, Belgrade All-Stars 4

Hamilton 11, Gallatin Valley 1

Butte Ballers 4, Belgrade Bandits 3

13U

Helena Braves 14, North Bitterroot 5

Spokane 7, Bozeman 6

Boz 13, North Bitterroot 6 (third place)

14U

Bozeman 10, Glacier 4

15U

Billings 14, Southern Mountain Coca-Cola 4 Glacier 4, Golden Trinagle 0

Mission Valley 6, Kalispell 0

Kalispell 7, Golden Triangle 3 (third place)