By MATT JONES
For the Mirror
Federal Way American Little League ended an impressive run with a fourth-place finish Thursday at the Washington State Junior Little League Tournament at Medical Lake High School, near Spokane.
The group of 13- and 14-year-old all stars were beaten by West Valley Little League, 22-10, at the double-elimination tournament after a three-game run through the loser’s bracket.
After losing their opening-round game on July 17, Federal Way won their next three loser-out games. The state tournament included all 13 district champions from around Washington. Central Whidbey Little League won the title.
Federal Way American earned the berth into the Washington State Junior League Tournament with an 8-2 win over Auburn/Chinook in the District 10 championship game. The state tournament includes 13 teams.
The team included Mitchell Garza, Jay-J Jones, Renne Jones, Christian Lindbom, Andrew Maertins, Austin Noteboom, Mustaffa Niazi, Joe Potts, Branden Shires, Mitch Stewart, Kyle Tanemura and Matt Walls. The team is managed by Bob Clinton and coached by Nick Clinton, Jerry Stewart and Matt Jones.
This was the second year in a row that Federal Way American has won the District 10 Junior Little League championship. Last year, American combined with Federal Way National to win the district title.
Here’s a recap of all of Federal Way’s games at the state tournament:
Hazel Dell LL 6, FW American 5
After a regular season showing of 23-3, and going undefeated throughout the District 10 tournament, the Americans opened the state tourney against Hazel Dell. The game was a hard-fought back and forth contest before Hazel Dell came back in the bottom of the seventh inning, beating the Americans 6-5 on a bases-clearing triple.
Mitch Stewart was the starting pitcher for Federal Way and was masterful in mixing his pitches and confusing Hazel Dell, keeping the game scoreless until Hazel Dell put two runs over in the bottom of the fourth.
The Americans fought back to tie the ballgame in the fifth inning as a result of Mitchell Garzas’ triple and RBI singles by Stewart and Branden Shires. American took the lead in the sixth inning on a leadoff double by Renné Jones, an RBI single by Jay-J Jones, and a Stewart RBI single to make the score 5-3.
Stewart turned the game over to Andrew Maertins with two outs in the 6th inning, and Maertins responded by striking out the next batter on three-straight pitches to end the inning.
Federal Way had a chance to pad their lead, however a leadoff triple by Shires went nowhere as Hazel Dell took care of the next three batters to end the threat before the Rebels sealed the Americans fate with their three runs to end the game.
“The things that hurt us in this game were the same things that hurt us in the regular season, not being able to advance runners, poor base running, and not being able to take advantage of opportunities that were available to us” coach Bob Clinton observed after the loss. “I feel for Mitch, he pitched a great game”.
Shires led all Federal Way hitters, going 3 for 3 with two singles and a triple.
FW American 8, Stilly Valley 2
Federal Way began their journey through the loser’s bracket with a determined showing and a convincing 8-2 victory over Stilly Valley (Arlington). This was a win that did not show the Americans giving up any runs until the final innings of the game.
Andrew Maertins pitched brilliantly for Federal Way, fanning 10 batters and only allowing three singles and a double while walking three, two of those coming late in the sixth inning before turning the game over to the bullpen.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the second inning, when Mustafa Niazis’ bunted a single, combined with two throwing errors, scored Joe Potts and Renne’ Jones to give the Americans a 2-0 advantage.
Maertins helped himself at the plate in the third, smashing a deep triple to set up the third FW run when Shires singled Maertins in.
The bats came alive for Federal Way in the fourth, as the bottom of the lineup produced even more run support when Matt Walls started off the inning with a walk. Austin Noteboom and Christian Lindblom then singled, and Stewart hit a single that produced one run. Maertins knocked Noteboom in to extend the lead to 6-0.
The final two runs were produced when Niazi walked, Walls and Jay-J Jones singled and Stewart followed with another walk to load the bases. Maertins’ hit to the shortstop was mishandled, allowing Niazi to score, and Shires’ infield shot gave Jay-J Jones the chance to finish the scoring for the Americans.
Maertins handed the ball over to Jay-J Jones with two outs in Stilly Valleys’ sixth, who then coaxed a fly ball to center field to end a bases-loaded threat, and Jones and Austin Noteboom sealed the decision in the seventh to even the Americans tourney record at 1-1.
FW American 18, West Plains 13
Hits, runs, and errors were the story of Federal Way’s third game of the tournament, as the Americans erupted for 10 runs in the third inning to post a convincing 18-13 win over the District 13 host team, West Plains of Spokane.
West Plains staked themselves to an early 4-1 lead after one inning, before Federal Way broke the game open in the third, highlighted by consecutive singles by Matt Walls, Mustafa Niazi, Jay-J Jones and Mitch Stewart. Federal Way was also helped along by various West Plains errors to help turn the Americans lineup over and produce an 11-4 lead that FW never relinquished
Federal Way later stretched out the lead behind run scoring base hits from Shires, Niazi, J. Jones and Austin Noteboom before West Plains rallied to close the gap.
Stewart and Joe Potts led the Americans’ offense with three hits and three runs each, while Stewart, along with Andrew Maertins, Walls, and Niazi led the team with 2 RBIs a piece.
Niazi started the game on the mound, pitching five solid innings to record the win, and J.Jones and Noteboom combined to close the game, which was called in the sixth inning due to darkness.
FW American 9, Fort Vancouver 8
Game four of the Americans’ journey through the state junior’s tournament faced them off against Fort Vancouver, the District 4 champion who had defeated Hazel Dell, who had previously beaten FWALL in their first tournament game.
Fort Vancouver staked themselves to a 3-0 lead early in the contest before a six-run rally in the second inning that gave the Americans’ a positive lead as the result of timely two-out hitting by Mitch Stewart, who smashed a bases-loaded single, followed by Andrew Maertins’ two-run double to secure the lead. Branden Shires’ home run over the left field fence brought in two more runs to cap off the inning.
A scary moment happened in the third when a line shot off a Fort Vancouver bat partially struck pitcher, Jay-J Jones in the forehead. The game was momentarily halted while officials checked out Jones, who stayed in the game to throw 5 1/3 innings, earning the victory while giving up only six hits.
Stewart initiated two more rallies later in the game with a single and a triple. Maertins drove him in each time and Austin Noteboom added an RBI single, while also relieving Jones on the mound for the last five outs of the game.
Stewart led all FWALL players at the plate with a 3 for 4 showing, leading to three runs and two RBIs, while Maertins produced four RBIs on a 2-for-4 day.
West Valley 22, FW American 10
The postseason run for the 2010 State Juniors Baseball Championship ended Thursday Afternoon for the Federal Way ballclub as the eventual state runner-up, West Valley of Richland, scored 11 runs in the top of the 7th inning to put the game away.
The game was scoreless until the third inning, when West Valley broke out for five runs. However, FWALL struck back with three runs of their own, led by an RBI single from Mitch Stewart and a 2-run double by Andrew Maertins.
West Valley came right back with four runs in the fourth and had an 11-4 lead going into the bottom of the sixth when the Americans exploded for six runs to pull within a run.
Their rally in the sixth was started off with consecutive singles by Joe Potts, Matt Walls and Mustaffa Niazi. Despite a West Valley double play, hits by Renne Jones and Stewart kept the Federal Way hopes alive. The inning was capped off by Branden Shires’ blast over the left field fence to leave the Americans trailing, 11-10.
West Valley came up in the top half of the seventh inning and put together 11 runs, securing their win and sending the Americans home after posting a 3-2 tourney record and finishing fourth for the tournament.
Stewart and Maertins were once again the main offensive force for Federal Way, Stewart going 3 for 4 for the second night in a row, while Maertins two hits brought in three runs. Shires’ two-run homer was also his second in as many nights.
These were also the last games of the Federal Way American Little League, as it will be merging with the Federal Way National program to form Federal Way Little League.
