POULSBO — From the view of a helicopter hovering over Snider Park on Saturday, the North Kitsap Babe Ruth diamond would’ve been red hot with red spots dotting the turf as the NK and Olympic Babe Ruth All-Stars hashed out the District 4 15-year-old tournament with a doubleheader.

While both teams wore red uniforms, it didn’t cause too much confusion among the only two teams in the district. Especially for the North Kitsap Stars, which opened the game with a show of strength.

“That’s what we’ve been working on all week, just to start off, jump on them quick and take them out of the game early,” said coach Rick Ritter, explaining his strategy.

Being the only two teams in the district, whoever could steal two out of three games advanced to state. In the first game, North Kitsap boldly stepped up to the plate.

NK’s Tyler Sullivan let loose from the mound, starting the game slinging at top speed, coach Ritter said. North’s offensive onslaught echoed his authority and it ran away on the scoreboard. The fifth inning mercy rule was invoked as NK accelerated to an enormous 12-1 lead.

“We are a lot faster than most teams,” Ritter said, noting the team’s 10 combined steals in the doubleheader. “We have the speed but we’ve got to get on base to use it.”

As instructed, the NK boys brought fireworks with their bats at 2 p.m. when the second and most important game of the day was played. After collecting 17 hits in the first game, NK pulled out 18 more in Game 2, keeping a steady advantage throughout.

North scored three runs on two hits in the second inning, combining with its three-run first inning to take a 6-3 lead in the second game.

Andy Smith controlled the hill, while the Olympic squad brought its sticks. NK’s defense backed its pitcher and covered the turf, nixing Olympic’s third inning attempt with a quick thinking pick-off play at third base and an easy out.

“We’re just trying to stay up … talk it up all the time and not get down on each other,” said NK right-handed closer Justin Roulanaitis. “We pick each other up if anything goes down.”

Despite a three-run mishap by NK’s defense in the first inning, it took root in the second and third frames. Roulanaitis came into relieve Smith in the top of the fourth with an exclamation point.

Slinging sweet-nasty, funky and off-speed pitches, Roulanaitis kept Olympic guessing and sealed the inning with two strikeouts and a ground out.

Excitement came spewing from North’s dugout, stands and coaching boxes building momentum into the team’s batting gloves. Mario McLaughlin and Sullivan cashed in by cracking RBI singles to advance NK’s lead to 8-3.

“It was a lot on defense and offense,” Roulanitis said of team strengths at the district tourney. “We have a lot of great hitters on the team, everybody contributes, and on defense we have a lot of great players. We have our ups and downs, but everybody pulls it out. It’s good.”

Despite a fifth-inning lull for North, the team kept itself composed to cruise to the final score, 10-4.

Cameron Mills and McLaughlin connected on back-to-back RBI shots to the wall in center field, delivering the final blow to the Olympic team’s season in the sixth inning.

Mills led NK in the batters’ box for the second game of the double header with a three-for-three performance and two RBI. In the first game Roulanitis’ bat cracked three-for-three while Greg Ritter, Smith and McLaughlin each smacked two-for-three to lead.

“All the team, including the reserves … everyone has risen up and came with us, we are all on the same page,” Ritter said with hope in his voice. “This is basically the same team we had during our 13-year-old year when we won state. We’ve also got Kyle Murray and Justin Roulanitis from the 2005 14 year old World Series team. They have a lot of experience; we were looking for that from them.”

Currently, North’s 15’s are pulling from its collective experience practicing in anticipation of the state tournament July 13-15 in Kelso. Before state tournament time, Roulanitis said all aspects of NK’s game can be refined.