The Columbia Basin River Dogs are heading into the home stretch of this summer’s schedule and once again they host a tournament full of strong Babe Ruth teams.

EPHRATA — The Columbia Basin River Dogs are heading into the home stretch of this summer’s schedule and once again they host a tournament full of strong Babe Ruth teams.

The River Dogs Invitational began last night with a Group A game between the River Dogs and New Zealand Black while Group B saw the Perros del Rio battle New Zealand White at Johnson/O’Brien Stadium.

Filling out Group A are the Bozeman Bucks and the Marysville Hawks while Group B also consists of the Brewers, Covington Cubs, Hurricanes, Bellevue Legion, and the Spokane Dodgers.

The New Zealand Black and White teams are here all week as they travel the United States in their quest to improve their blooming youth baseball programs.

The River Dogs (34-12) come off a second-place finish at the Keith Sell Memorial Tournament in Helena, Mont. last weekend.

The squad fell 7-6 in the final when the tying run was thrown out at home plate after the River Dogs rallied from a 7-3 deficit heading into the top of the 7th inning against Eastside Baseball Club out of Seattle.

Mitch Yada and Davis Engel earned pitching victories for the River Dogs during the tournament and the team’s offense was sparked by the batting of Dylan Signorelli, Cameron Alvarado, Matt Herbert, Stockton Taylor, Spencer Lee, and Tyler Morris.

The rest of the River Dogs Invitational tournament schedule includes:

Today:

River Dogs vs. Marysville Hawks (12:30 p.m.); River Dogs vs Bozeman Bucks (5:30 p.m.), both at Johnson/O’Brien.

Friday:

Perros del Rio vs. Spokane Dodgers (5:30 p.m.) at Boruff Field.

Saturday: (Playoff schedule)

10 a.m. – Game 1: A1 vs. C2 (Johnson O’Brien), Game 2: A3 vs. B2 (Boruff Field); 12:30 p.m. – Game 3: B1 vs. C1 (Johnson O’Brien), Game 4: A2 vs. B3 (Boruff Field), Game 11: A4 vs C3 (Big Bend Community College); 3 p.m. – Game 5: Winner 1 vs. Winner 2 (Johnson O’Brien), Game 6: Loser 1 vs. Loser 2 (Boruff Field); Game 12: C3 vs. B4 (Big Bend CC); 5:30 p.m. – Game 7: Winner 3 vs. Winner 4 (Johnson O’Brien), Game 8: Loser 3 vs. Loser 4 (Boruff Field); 8 p.m. – Game 13: A4 vs. B4 (Johnson/O’Brien).

Sunday: (Playoff schedule)

9 a.m. – Game 9: Loser 5 vs. Loser 7 (Johnson/O’Brien), Game 10: Loser 6 vs. Loser 8 (Boruff Field); 11:30 a.m. – Winner 5 vs. Winner 7, Championship (Johnson/O’Brien), Game 12: Winner 6 vs. Winner 8 (Boruff Field).