A pair of local all-star baseball teams headed south at the start of July to take part in the Firecracker Tournament in Kalispell, Montana. The tournament hosted some of the best Cal Ripken youth baseball teams from Washington, Idaho, Montana, BC, and Alberta. Though the West Kootenay U11 and U12 teams did not have much success on the diamond against the powerhouse American clubs, it was a different story in the skills competition. Eleven-year-old Nelson slugger Quin Hall (pictured in the middle above) won the U11 home run derby with some impressive long balls. Making his way to the final three, Hall hit a pitch out of the park and across the parking lot (estimated at 500 feet) to claim the title. In the above photo Hall is swarmed by his U11 and U12 friends in celebration. The two teams are off to the Valley of Champions tournament in Kelowna — Canada’s largest youth baseball tournament — this weekend.