High School baseball programs throughout mountain towns on the Western Slope have reinforcements enroute. 

The 14U Three Rivers Little League All-Star team is preparing to face off against the best youth talent in the state after they brought home the 2025 District 1 championship banner in June, and their coaches are beaming with pride as they watch the players bloom into confident ballplayers. 

“Baseball is a game of failure, and we want to keep that perspective as coaches,” Three Rivers assistant coach Mike Murray said. “We want the kids to develop, but we also need to understand that they are still kids and we can’t base everything off success on the field.”

The Three Rivers Little League All-Star team beat teams from Grand Mesa and Monument in Grand Junction in pursuit of their district title, and are now preparing to face off against teams throughout Colorado with a chance to represent Colorado in the upcoming regional tournament in Oregon. 

The team, composed of players from Vail to Aspen and everywhere in between, is now preparing to face off against the two other district winners for a chance to represent Colorado.

The kids are on their last step of their youth baseball careers before high school, something that bleeds through while watching the all-star team. 

“This age group is in the time of life when they grow four inches over the summer, and they have changed a lot physically over the course of a year,” Murray said. “You start to see the changes in their game. They’re stronger, they can hit the ball further, they are facing and becoming better pitchers. It’s really a point where it’s entertaining not just to coach, but to watch as well.”

Murray noted that as much fun this season has been, he knows the kids are still in the infancy stages of their baseball lives, and is making sure to coach in a way that will help them succeed in the future. 

“As much as winning fixes everything, and we want to see the kids win, the more important focus for us — as coaches — is the developmental side,” Murray said. “We know that most, if not all, want to play in high school, so we want to see them get better throughout the season. We are trying to put them in similar situations as the ones they will find at the next level.”

The kids’ homes could be as far as a two hour drive from door-to-door, but that relationship barrier took all of ten minutes to break down, according to Murray.

“It’s cool because you know they are out there to play the game and win, but it doesn’t seem like that. It seems like they are just out there playing a game with their friends. It’s really fun to watch.”

He also pointed out how the team’s foundational friendship building will create intense and fun high school matchups down the line. 

“It certainly won’t take any competitiveness away from those matchups, they are still going to want to beat their buddies,” he said. “They’re all going to want to win, but at the same time, they’ll be able to draw back to the memories of playing together when they were little. I think that can calm some nerves and I think that raises the level of play and makes them want to compete a little harder.”

The Three Rivers Little League All-Star team will travel to Aurora on Thursday, and will leave it all on the field during the double-elimination state tournament spanning July 16-20.