The Kent/Chinook Little League Senior All-Star team is well aware of the target that sits on its chest.
That, however, hasn’t slowed the local stars, which is comprised of 14 through 16 year olds who live in Covington, Kent, Bonney Lake and Enumclaw.
Kent/Chinook, which won the state tournament a year ago, opened the same tournament this past weekend at Brannan Park in Auburn in strong fashion, picking off Redmond and Richmond in succession.
Kent/Chinook knocked off Redmond in the opener Saturday, 4-2, and upended Richmond Sunday, 10-5, in the quarterfinals.
The Kent/Chinook stars will look to repeat as state champions this week as the tournament concludes on July 22. The two wins helped Kent/Chinook advance to the semifinals, where it will play against Stilly Valley at noon Tuesday at Brannan Park.
“This is a good group,” said coach Kirk Davis. “They know they have a target on their back and everybody pitches their best pitcher against us. This team can win in a lot of ways.”
As much was evident in the first two rounds of the tournament.
In the 4-2 win over Redmond, the team Kent/Chinook beat for last year’s title, David Prince worked five sharp innings on the mound to pick up the win. Steve Hunt delivered a flawless two innings of relief to earn the save.
“He was huge closing out that game,” Davis said of Hunt, who struck out the side in the sixth inning.
Kent/Chinook took an immediate lead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning on a two-run double to center field by Matt Nutting that scored Jared Mackie and Garrett Robertson. Robertson reached after being hit by a pitch, and Mackie singled.
Redmond tied the game 2-2 in the third inning before Kent/Chinook put away the game with a two-run fifth inning. Colby Thompson started the rally with a one-out double before Robertson legged out an infield single. With two outs, Mackie delivered a two-run double that would give the Kent/Chinook pitching staff all the runs it would need.
“We basically got two big hits in the game,” Davis said.
Of course, the defense came through as well.
Second baseman Ricky Davis helped seal the victory with an acrobatic grab on a shallow fly ball to center field.
While Kent/Chinook used just enough timely hitting, good defense and strong pitching to earn the win in the opener, the local stars delivered at the plate against Richmond.
Those bats came particularly alive in the seventh inning. Tied 5-5 against Richmond, Kent/Chinook erupted for five runs in the frame to earn the win.
Thompson and Prince collected back-to-back singles to open the inning. Robertson then reached on an error to load the bases for Mackie, who singled to right field, giving Kent/Chinook a 6-5 advantage. Nutting then walked with the bases loaded, scoring Prince and pushing Kent/Chinook’s lead to 7-5. Sam Burtis followed with a two-run double to deep right field, giving Kent/Chinook a 9-5 lead. Mike Mazzitelli wrapped up the five-run inning with a fielder’s choice out that scored Michael Hanek from third.
The winner of the state tournament advances to the Western Regionals, which will be played in Ontario, Calif., beginning Aug. 2.
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