POULSBO — The North Kitsap Babe Ruth 16 to 18 year old baseball team has been to the top before and they want to go back. The talented squad has put forth a sizzling summer record of 16-4 and is vying for the opportunity to return to the Babe Ruth World Series for the second consecutive season. They are now only one tournament away from their goal.

The North Kitsap Babe Ruth all-star team earned second place in the Babe Ruth 16-18 year old state tournament, giving it a berth at the regional tournament despite falling to the Kent Bulldogs 12-3 in the state championship game in Port Angeles July 21.

This year’s teams playing in the Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament are the Kent Bulldogs as No. 1 seed, North Kitsap as No. 2 seed and the Seattle Baseball Academy (SBA) Buzz as No. 3 seed taking place at the regional tournament in Ephrata from July 27-30.

North coach Brad Stenman said his team made too many miscues to come up with a victory in the state championship contest against Kent.

“We lost to the Kent Bulldogs in a driving rainstorm, committing seven errors in the process,” he said. “We felt like we were the better team, but they played error free and we didn’t.”

The loss didn’t sting as much for Stenman and his squad because they knew they would be moving forward to regionals regardless of the outcome of the state finale.

“We knew going into the championship game that we were already going to the regional tournament,” Stenman said. “So it really was just a seeding game.”

This is the fourth consecutive year this particular squad has advanced to the regional tournament.

“It’s a huge accomplishment,” Stenman said. “I don’t think the kids or parents understand how extremely rare this is. Most kids that play baseball in the entire United States never get to go even once. Our team has a lot to be proud of, and I am sure one day it will sink in what a great accomplishment this has been.”

He said his squad is setting their sights on winning the regional tournament to nab a spot in the World Series taking place Aug. 10-17 in Newark, Ohio.

“Our goal every year is to win regionals and go back to the World Series,” he said. Stenman added they advanced to the World Series 2004 and 2006. “This group is certainly capable of getting the job done.”

Success at regionals depends on North’s ability to play the game the way they know how.

“We need to play our game which is smart aggressive baseball,” Stenman said. “We can’t afford to make seven errors in one game like we did in the state championship game. We need to throw strikes, play good defense and execute on offense. If we do that, we’ll be competitive against all of these select teams we’re playing and we’ll be fighting for a chance to play on Monday in the semi-finals and finals.”

North began its quest for a regional title against teams from Umatilla, Oregon and the C.B. River Dogs. As of press time, results of these contests were unavailable.

If the team is able to win regionals, Stenman hopes his squad will get a rematch against a familiar foe from last year’s World Series.

“It just so happens that the only team that beat us last year in the World Series was a team from Newark, Ohio. They’re the host team this year,” he said. “So we’d like to get back there and get a little revenge on them.”

Players on this year’s roster include Tyler Seth, Chris Jones, Kelly Wells, Levi O’Hara-McLaren, Jamaal Smith, Kaleb Murray, Kyle Loescher, Reuben Smith, Andy Smith, James Smith, Andrew Joe, Jeff Jones, Tyler Sullivan, Josh Corso and Derek Goodall.