With a loss Saturday, the Sparks 13-15-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars fell into the losers' bracket of the state tournament held at the Governors Bowl.

Unfortunately for local baseball fans, their team suffered the same fate Sunday night as the 13-year-old All-Stars suffered that same morning, a season-ending defeat.

The Sparks 13-15-year-old All-Stars ran into a South Tahoe pitcher who kept them off balance as Bobby Oakes helped his team to a 7-1 triumph over Sparks. The loss eliminated Sparks from the state tournament.

Sparks manager Sean Higgins said Oakes didn't seem overly intimidating, but he worked the ball around the plate while changing speeds and baffled Sparks.

Sparks' lone run came in the sixth when Codey Beattie led off with a triple and Zach Squires followed with an RBI single.

But South Tahoe had already built a 7-0 lead to that point by scoring three runs in the second, one in the fourth and three more in the fifth, on the strength of only five hits. Sparks pitching did allow four walks and one hit batsman.

Higgins also said that while South Tahoe wasn't getting a lot of hits, it hit the ball hard early on to grab momentum.

Oakes went the distance on the mound for South Tahoe, scattering seven hits over seven innings of work, while striking out six and only walking two.

For Sparks, Tyler Starley went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the way. Casey Higgins and Chris Flores also had hits.

The championship game of the tournament is scheduled for tonight. An 'if' game could be played the following night.

•After winning their first game, the Sparks 13-year-old All-Stars dropped two straight to be eliminated from the state tourney by Reno West at Jack Tighe Field Saturday morning.