The Kent Little League 9-10 All-Stars advanced to the quarterfinals at the Washington State Little League baseball double elimination tournament on Whidbey Island after knocking off the Walla Walla Pacific, Sedro-Woolley, and Northwest teams down to the losers bracket.
As one of only two undefeated teams in the tournament, Kent is guaranteed at least third place. Kent plays its quarterfinal game at Windjammer Park in Oak Harbor Thursday night. Check online at www.littleleaguewa.org for tournament updates.
Kent won its first game against Walla Walla Pacific 6-4, but proceeded to shut out Sedro-Woolley 10-0 in the following game and then beat Northwest 6-5.
“We play a lot of baseball down in the south and you don’t realize it,” said Kent manager Kynan Patterson after the team’s victory over Sedro-Woolley.
A back-and-forth game to open the tournament with Walla Walla Pacific left Kent down a run at the bottom of the sixth, but a bases-loaded double by Jacob Yang put the team ahead, allowing it to seal the win.
Patterson said that the team has worked hard as a cohesive unit and is proud of its current performance.
“I hesitate to bring up any one name when you want to build the team up as a whole,” he said, but also noted that two pitchers, Jalin Church and Ty Collins, have helped the team succeed by allowing only a few hits.
“It’s going to come down to pitching ultimately,” Patterson said. “A good pitcher can shut anybody down. You throw some good pitchers out there and the other team’s confidence drops pretty quick.”
It was that same pitching performance that allowed Kent to shut out Sedro-Woolley, where the team maintained a solid pitching performance with a one-hitter.
“The key was that the ball didn’t go out of the infield,” Patterson said. “We had our two best pitchers pitching and it showed.”
In Kent’s most recent game against Northwest, Patterson said that the team consistently stayed ahead of the competition with an early two-run lead. Kent maintained that lead until the final inning, when Northwest scored a single run to bring the closing score to 6-5.
Patterson said that the tighter victory is indicative of the greater challenge and caliber of teams they’ll be playing as they head toward the finals.
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