Camas Red Sweeps Keizer JBO Tourney; 4 Games in 1 Day

KEIZER, OR — A local Little League traveling team called Camas Red swept a Junior Baseball of Oregon (JBO) tournament on Saturday winning all four games and leaving the competition stunned.

The Camas Little League traveling team, with one additional player from a separate league, is coached by Jeff Mansur, John Blair and Dave Ferres, and operated independently of Little League this weekend.

The boys managed to keep their spirits and strength up for an entire day of baseball that started at 8 am and and didn’t end until after 6 pm.

The JBO tournament, sponsored by Keizer Youth Sports Association, invited the Camas team to compete. And compete they did.

The Camas team struggled early against Hillboro’s Liberty team to adjust to the larger fields, longer baselines, and early lead-off rules. But once they got their momentum, they just kept going.

Liberty got the early lead, but Camas would have none of that, as Jake Blair lead a third inning rally that would propel them to a 12-3 win.

Next up, was a game against hometown favorite Keizer. Camas was behind by the fourth inning (7-4) and rallied at the bottom of the fourth to come ahead 10-7. The lead didn’t alleviate the pressure as tournament rules call for a game cutoff at 2 hours, 15 minutes. That time was closely approaching, and if the final inning isn’t completed the score would have reverted back to the 7-4 Keizer lead. It was a very unusual display.

Camas got through the inning and shut down Keizer to win 10-7.After a lunch break and time to rejuvenate, Camas faced Corvallis at 2:30. Corvallis was competitive and Camas looked flat for a few innings, but came alive in the third inning and won 10-8. Eli Ferres hit a home run that went way over the fence.

By 5 pm, Camas looked a little tired but still in good spirits. There was still enough pitching left and Camas won 13-2, with Josh Mansur closing.

Worn out, but still smiling the team celebrated at their trophy presentation and enjoyed a Mexican dinner at Los Dos Hermanos, Keizer.

“We’re really proud of this team,” said Jeff Mansur. “In Little League, we draft players individually in competition with other managers. JBO doesn’t do that. They hand-pick their teams and they usually stay together for several years. They had the advantage. It was a good day.”