KENT — Even after the North Kitsap Senior Babe Ruth team was eliminated from the state tournament this weekend, manager Derrin Doty kept reaching for superlatives.

“It was an unbelievable run,” Doty said of the team, which took second in state. “It was borderline miraculous.”

Doty’s team, composed of North Kitsap High School baseball players — most of whom return for the Vikings’ 2002-2003 season — had been beat 8-4 in the tournament’s first game by the Kent Bulldogs, a select team that culled players from eight high schools.

The team then went on a three-game winning streak, including a win over the state powerhouse Wilder Auto team from Port Angeles, which boasted many of the West Sound’s best players.

• They beat Ephrata 9-1 behind the complete-game pitching of Chris Carlsen, aided by two-hit performances by Patrick Gilbert, Quinn Mouser, and Derek Deeter.

• They then beat AIS, a select team out of Kirkland, 14-11. North went up 3-0, but AIS scored four runs in the fourth to grab the lead. During that inning, an AIS runner plowed into Quinn Mouser, who was catching and managed to hold onto the ball. The play ended the inning and fired up North Kitsap; the team went on to score 11 in their half of the fifth. Jared Prince and Jordan Stout each had a pair of doubles in the three-run win.

•On Sunday, North Kitsap beat Wilder, a team that had knocked them out of a tournament earlier this year.

North build a 3-0 lead, then stretched it to 5-1 on a Mike Good RBI single.

Wilder fought back, scoring three in the fifth inning to make it 5-4.

In the sixth, pitcher Brian Leibold took the mound with no outs, the bases loaded, and Port Angeles slugger Matt Lane at the plate.

Leibold induced a popout.

A failed squeeze play equalled another out.

PA’s Jordan Tschimperle hit a rocket to left field that scored one run, but a strong relay throw by Nic Stearns, followed by a throw from infielder Prince to catcher Chase Dukes, let North Kitsap tag the second runner out after he missed the plate sliding in.

North had stopped the bleeding, but the game was tied at 5.

In the seventh inning, Prince doubled off the center field wall, and was brought home when Quinn Mouser hit a shot to the outfield.

Mouser’s ball was misplayed by an outfielder, and he was signalled around second, then signalled home, where he scored to make it 7-5.

North held on to the win, with 16-year-old Andy Sturza — who was an injury replacement for Gilbert — making the final catch.

“They were going nuts,” Doty said of the team’s reaction to the win. “They ran onto the field.”

He added, “It was hard for me to keep my composure.”

•The team then met the Kent Bulldogs again, with a similar result. Kent won 9-3, and seven of those runs were unearned; Doty said that errors helped North kick the game away — but he was proud of their overall performance.

“A lot of guys stepped up,” he said.

Leibold and Mouser were named to the all-state Babe Ruth Senior team, Leibold for second base, Mouser for outfield. Deeter, Good, and Gilbert were named to the second team.