Behind a balanced attack and good pitching, the Federal Way Knights won 8 of 10 games to finish strong in a recent pair of Triple Crown Sports SlumpBuster U14 Baseball Tournaments in the Omaha, Neb., area.

The Knights, gearing up to host their tournament July 22-26, rolled to five consecutive wins in the 25-team field to reach the championship game where they lost to the nationally ranked Buzz Lightning Baseball Academy of Houston, 8-0.

In the subsequent tournament the same week, the Knights won three straight games before falling to the RoughRiders of Sugar Land, Texas, 10-5, in the Round of 16. The Knights wound up 11th in the 56-team tournament.

In the first tournament, Federal Way routed New Trier (Hewitt, Ill.), 14-1, behind Kai Cerbana’s three hits and four RBI, Jackson Wood’s two base hits, Derek Klaas’ five strikeouts and Daniel Lee’s defense. The Knights then dispatched the Frozen Ropes (Frisco, Texas), 9-5, in eight innings behind Cerbana’s two-run, game-tying double, Dallin Havili’s two-run single and the pitching of Chris Shimer.

Cerbana and Matt Bower combined for six innings of stout pitching, shutting down the Titans of (Douglasville, Ga.) for an 11-3 win. Havili went 3-for-4, while Cerbana, Havili, Klaas and Brett Oyer each had a pair of hits. The Knights went on to dispatch Minnetonka (Minn.), 14-2, in the quarterfinals behind Zac Kolterman’s four strikeouts and the hitting of Jake Kolterman, Caleb Mathena and Korbin Moss.

The Knights then outlasted the Bears of Canton, Ohio, 5-4, in eight innings on the strength of Oyer’s two-run home run that cleared the 350-foot centerfield fence. Oyer also worked four innings from the mound, with Darrien Moran shutting the door by striking out six to pick up the win.

In the following tournament, the Knights rocked the Titans of Oak Lawn, Ill., 17-9, behind Zac Kolterman’s bases-clearing triple, Havili’s two-run double, doubles from Jake Kolterman and Shimer, and pitching from Mathena and Bower. The Knights then downed the Texas RoughRiders, 6-1, before downing the River Bend (South Bend, Ind.) Irish, 8-3, behind George Foley’s two hits and Jake Kolterman’s diving catch in left field.

Zac Kolterman went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs in the Knights’ loss to the RoughRiders in the Round of 16. Moran worked six innings and had three hits; Oyer and Shimer each had two. Moss drilled a two-run double.

The team, under coach John Sugg, is preparing to host a large field from throughout the area in Summer Knights V, one of the biggest youth baseball tournaments to be staged in Federal Way on a single weekend. The tournament has attracted 74 teams in eight age divisions.