The Steel Lake Little League is one step closer to playing in Williamsport, Penn. The 11 and 12 year olds won the coveted District 10 championship Sunday at Sunset Park in Auburn. Steel Lake beat Kent Little League in the title game to earn a berth into the 2008 Washington State Little League Tournament.
The District 10 Tournament is the first step on the road to the Little League World Series. To qualify, an all-star team must win district, state and regional tournament titles.
The Steel Lake Little League all-star team includes Tommy Amato, Jesse Fite, Drew Huttenlocker, Jake Kolterman, Hunter McSwain, Mikey Jojica, Jacob Nugent, Zachary Lane, Alex Poltz, Jordan Price, Clayton Regehr and Eddie Sweeney. The team is coached by Rich Price and Scott Kolterman.
Kent made things difficult in the championship round. Steel Lake rolled into the championship round after knocking Kent into the loser’s bracket with a win during the semifinals. The earlier win meant that Kent would have had to beat Steel Lake twice to win the district championship.
It almost happened. Kent downed Steel Lake in the first championship game Saturday, 10-4, forcing the winner-to-state, loser-out game on Sunday in Auburn.
The 2008 Washington State Major Baseball State Tournament kicks off Friday at Freedom Field at the Mill Creek Sports Park north of Seattle. Steel Lake’s first game won’t be until Sunday against the winner of a first-round game between Bainbridge Island Little League and West Seattle Little League.
There are 13 districts represented in the tournament and the eventual winner will play in the Northwest Regional Tournament in San Bernardino, Calif.
The title by the 11- and 12-year-old team was the third District 10 championship earned by Steel Lake during the postseason. Steel Lake also won the district Little League softball title (11- and 12-year-old girls) and the Senior Baseball (14-15 boys) crown. No other District 10 Little League organization won more than one championship.
The Federal Way American Little League all-star team finished up in fourth place after losing to Kent in the loser’s bracket on Thursday. The Federal Way American Little League all-star team includes Mitch Stewart, Rylan Cratsenberg, Alexander Lewis, Andrew Maertins, Kyren Proctor, Branden Shires, Garrett Brewer, Devin Pegues, Joe Potts, Ben Willis and Ian Korzeniecki.
In other Little League action:
• The Steel Lake Little League girls fastpitch team is rolling at the 2008 Washington Major Softball State Tournament in Walla Walla.
The 11 and 12 year olds proved it by winning their first two games at the Walla Walla Pacific Complex over the weekend. Steel Lake didn’t allow a single run to earn the spot in the semifinals, beating host Walla Walla Pacific Little League in their opener, 15-0, and then downing South Highline/PacWest in the quarterfinals, 10-0.
Steel Lake took on Stilly Valley Little League Monday night in the semifinals (after press time). Stilly Valley, from Arlington, are the defending state champions.
Steel Lake won the District 10 championship at Brannon Park in Auburn with a win over Chinook Little league in the title game.
The 2008 Steel Lake Little League faspitch all-star team includes Annalise Campbell, Halle Colson, Madeline Colson, Shelina Crowl, Emilia Finnsson, Jasmin Fulmore, Katie Jackson, Emma Larsen, Lexis Pawlowski, Celine Woo, Alyssa Woods and Alysea Zaragoza. The team is managed by Terome Fulmore and coached by Mark Larsen.
The District 10 Tournament included seven teams, with Steel Lake being the lone Federal Way representative. The state tournament will end on Friday and includes 10 teams.
• The Steel Lake Senior (14-15 years old) Little League team has won their opening game at the 2008 State Tournament at Mosier Park in Burien. Steel Lake beat Sky Valley Sunday and played PacWest in the second round Tuesday (after press time).
The team includes Jerrod Bachman, Jeff Edd, Sean Fogelberg, Campbell Flewelling, Mason Lapping, Erik Lindenauer, Chris Nishimura, Kevin Oyer, Travis Quackenbush, Ryan Rasmussen, Brian Thomason, Jory Tysdal, Chaz Woo, Dan Zumwalt and Tyler Zumwalt. The team is coached by Brent Edd and Jon Lindenauer.
Steel Lake won the District 10 tournament with a win over Kent.
• The Federal Way National 10-11 year old all star team will open up their 2008 Baseball State Tournament on July 20 against the winner of a game between Greater Richland Little League and the winner of the District 5 tournament at Sunset Park in Auburn. The state tournament will run through July 27.
Federal Way National won the District 10 championship with a 5-0 shut out against Kent on June 28 at the South King County Ball Fields near Federal Way. Markus Montelongo was the star of the game for Federal Way after throwing a complete-game, one-hit shutout with 13 strike outs.
The team includes Max Dalrymple, Garrett Westberg, Christian Stafford, Jon Charbonneau, Justyn Ekness, Lawyer Braun, Scott Sunitsch, Markus Montelongo, Dax Wallat, Taylor Davis, Zach Nunez, Donavan Castro and Brandon Henderson. The team is coached by Tim Robbins, Tomas Montelongo and Marcus Hudson.
Sports editor Casey Olson: 925-5565, sports@fedwaymirror.com
