Sunday’s schedule: 9 a.m. — Issaquah vs. Walla Walla Valley. 11:15 a.m. — Sedro Woolley vs. South Kitsap West. 1:30 p.m. — Mill Creek vs. Hazel Dell. 3:45 p.m. — Larch Mountain vs. North Bothell. 6 p.m. — Soundview vs. West Plains (loser out).
Stellar pitching enabled Larch Mountain manager Phil Sayamnet to enjoy a strange but successful homecoming at the Washington State 8-10 Little League Baseball Tournament.
Austin Gonia, Will Feltus and Carson Rotter combined for 16 strikeouts as Larch Mountain overcame a paucity of hits to top PacWest of Seattle, 8-4, on the opening day of state Saturday at Pioneer Park’s Failor Field.
Issaquah edged West Valley of Yakima, 8-7, Sedro Woolley upended Camas, 6-5, Mill Creek trounced Soundview of Tacoma, 11-0, and Hazel Dell crushed West Plains of Spokane, 24-0, in other first-round contests.
The nearest thing to a local favorite in this tournament (host teams are not granted an automatic berth in state Little League tourneys), District III champion Larch Mountain will face North Bothell in a second-round contest at 3:45 p.m. Sunday.
The Mountaineers from the Rochester-Tenino area do have a Harbor connection in Sayamnet, a former Aberdeen High athlete who began his baseball career playing Little League at Failor Field.
Larch Mt. 8, PacWest 4
The Mountaineers mustered only two hits — none until the fifth inning — and didn’t even put the ball in play for the first 2 2/3 frames.
But one staggering statistic proved the difference. Larch Mountain wound up drawing 13 walks, while allowing only one.
“In district, we had a great combination of really good pitching and timely hitting,” Sayamnet reflected.
Although still hitless, the Mountaineers trailed only 3-2 when Rotter and Chris Butcher opened the fifth with consecutive walks. Two outs later, Rotter scored the tying run on a wild pitch.
Ruger Culp then sent a sharp grounder off the glove of pitcher Quincy Eastman and reached second when the throw to first went awry. It was scored a hit-error combination, with Butcher tallying the go-ahead run.
Larch Mountain then broke it open by parlaying one hit, four walks, a hit batter and an error into a four-run sixth that broke it open. Kyson Sayamnet, the son of the manager, ignited the outburst with a leadoff double — Larch’s only solid hit of the contest.
Staff ace Gonia struck out 12 and allowed nary a walk before reaching his pitch count limit with two outs in the fifth. Feltus and Rotter fanned four more in completing the combined six-hitter.
Quincy Brown had two hits, including a double, and scored twice for PacWest.
Issaquah 8, West Valley 7
A three-run rally with two outs in the fifth lifted Issaquah past West Valley of Yakima.
With his team trailing 7-5, Luke Farmer drew a leadoff walk in the fifth and advanced to third on a passed ball and errant pickoff throw. West Valley pitcher Josh Sosa was on the verge of escaping unscathed when he struck out the next two batters, but Will Hawk reduced the deficit to one with an RBI single.
Following an error and a walk, Hawk scored the tying run on a wild pitch. Hudson Carvalho then doubled to left to score what proved to be the winning run.
Mason Uchimura, the third Issaquah pitcher, worked out of a two-on, one-out jam in the sixth to record the save for winning pitcher Carvalho.
The game featured three out-of-the-park homers, a relatively rare development in the 8-10 age group. West Valley’s Parker Mills slugged a two-run dinger in the third inning, while Issaquah’s Ernie Whalen and Tommy Rosario hit back-to-back homers in the fourth.
Sedro Woolley 6, Camas 5
Sedro Woolley spotted Camas an early three-run lead, then stormed back for another nailbiting victory.
Winning pitcher Sherman Griffin helped spark the rally with a solo homer in the third inning. Sedro Woolley then capitalized on a couple of throwing errors in a three-run fourth that put the Skagit Valley club ahead to stay at 6-4.
Camas’ Anthony Forner walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch in the fifth, but Camas stranded three runners in the final two innings.
Griffin and Bryson Friedrichs had two hits apiece for Sedro Woolley.
Mill Creek 11, Soundview 0
Sam Craig had two hits to pace Mill Creek, the Everett-area team that is a perennial Little League powerhouse.
Hazel Dell 24, West Plains 0
Trevor Cleeland delivered five hits, including a pair of doubles, to highlight Hazel Dell’s lopsided win. Kolby Hadfield also had two doubles among his three hits.
An eight-run first inning put the Vancouver-area club firmly in control.
