The 15U Snohomish County Express baseball team seems to be getting hotter as the year goes on.

The team placed fourth out of 21 teams in their competitive Mickey Mantle Olympic Division this year with a record of 13-8. The boys went on to place second in the Mickey Mantle state tournament, falling to the Kent Bulldogs. Four players — Ross Lyons, John Naff, Jake Thomas and Brandon Dormaier — were named to the Mickey Mantle all-tournament team.

From there, the Express boys, also affiliated with Babe Ruth baseball, played in the North Washington Babe Ruth State Tournament which ran July 16-19 in Ellensburg, winning all five of their games to be named the North Washington Babe Ruth 15u champions.

With the win, the boys qualified for the Babe Ruth Regional Baseball Tournament in Centralia from Aug. 3-8. The tournament will include teams from British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, host Centralia and Alberta. The tournament champion will advance to the Babe Ruth World Series in Longview, Wash. at the end of August.