COVINGTON COUNTY, Ala. - The Columbia Basin River Dogs are out of the 2013 Babe Ruth 16-18 World Series.

The team struggled to score during pool play ending the tournament with three straight shutouts.

The offense couldn't rebound and the River Dogs lost their final game of pool play to Gulf Coast, Ala. 3-0.

Gulf Coast took the early lead scoring 1 run in the first and 2 runs in the second and the River Dogs were unable to string enough hits together to mount a comeback.

"We actually hit the ball better today," head coach Randy Boruff said. "We just hit the ball right at some people."

Boruff was proud of the team's showing in Alabama and thought that pitcher Hector Zavala, who is headed to Whitworth University showed improvement over the course of the season.

Drew Loreta, the team's cleanup hitter, was also a bright spot in the lineup with a batting average over .400.

"It meant a lot to us this year because we were pretty young and we knew we hosted the World Series next year," Boruff said.

The defense and pitching of the River Dogs was solid throughout their time at the World Series, but their offense never caught up managing only 13 hits in four games.

"Our bats were never alive even in the victory," Boruff said.

Pitching and defense gave the River Dogs a chance to win allowing only 8 runs in four games, but a difficult pool kept them from advancing.

"The pools were kind of uneven if you were here watching the competition," Boruff said.

The River Dogs finished the season with a 41-17 record, a state championship and a regional championship.