Young Naa'taani get experience at NABI

Playing in their first Arizona Diamondbacks Inter-Tribal Youth Baseball Invitational July 25 to 27, the Naa'taani baseball team from Kirtland, N.M., got plenty of experience playing in a top-notch tournament.

After weeks of preparation, the team finished with a 1-2 pool record and failed to advance into the championship bracket in the 9- to 12-year-old division.

"I feel like we did good. We're a young team," said coach Carlyle Harvey. "To go down and face other competition, against other Native teams and especially with the help from the Arizona Diamondbacks' organization, the kids had a lot of fun."

Harvey, who coaches a Willie Mays (9-10) team in the Kirtland league, said, "This is the first time I took a team down to NABI. We had three weeks of practice, then we headed down.

"Parents and coaches got together and we're saying 'we should put a team together and take them down to NABI,'" he said. "I got a couple of players from my team in the Kirtland division, two from Farmington, a couple more from Shiprock and one from Window Rock."

With 24 teams participating in the Single A Division, Naa'taanii was placed in Pool 4 with the Fort Defiance Mariners, Stotonic Rebels and Salt River Sandlot. There were six pools for the division.

In their first game, against the Stotonic team, Harvey said, "I would think that there was that intimidation because of their height. Our young players were intimidated in the first inning. We gave up four runs, but after that they regrouped and stayed focused. They started playing really good but we fell short."

Naa'taanii had an easier time against the Salt River and led by Eric Kellewood, who provided strong pitching, the team won, 15-2.

"They weren't nervous anymore," Harvey said. "We had good defense. Eric Kellewood allowed only two runs and almost had a shutout that night."

In their final game of pool play on July 26, they struggled against the Mariners and lost, 15-1.

"I believe we could have moved on," Harvey said. "But, win or lose, it's just part of the game. The main thing I was happy with was that the kids stuck with the fundamentals. They were encouraging one another, just being positive on the field. We did good. We won one and lost two."

"It's really worth taking a team down there to NABI," he said. "All around, to me it was a great experience for the young kids."

Double A

In the Double A Division, the Top Dawgz of Fort Defiance placed second in the 13- to 16-year-old group. They lost the championship game to the Tota Warriors, 7-6.

The Top Dawgz played in Pool 2 along with the New Mexico Firebirds, Team Red Sox and Salt River Woodstock. They beat Team Red Sox, 16-2, and Salt River Woodstock, 18-1, but lost to the New Mexico Firebirds, 7-4. In the championship bracket, Top Dawgz beat Page All-Stars, 7-5.

Tota went 3-0 in pool play and 2-0 in the championship bracket. They beat the Shush Diné (15-0), Tule River Yokuts (8-0) and Tohono O'odham Thunders (17-0). In the championship bracket, the beat New Mexico Firebirds, 8-0, to advance to the championship game against Top Dawgz.

In the Triple A softball tournament, the Gallup Dynamite beat Native Thunder of Oklahoma, 6-3, to win the championship.

The Dynamite went 3-1 in pool play. They beat Hualapai Nation (20-0), Gila River Roadrunners (15-1) and the Oklahoma Inter-Tribal All-Stars (4-2), and then lost to Desert Heat (4-5).

Back to top ^