Mill Creek, Issaquah stay unbeaten in state 8-10 Little League

Mill Creek and Issaquah rout foes to advance to the winners bracket final of state 8-10 Little League

Thursday: 5 p.m. — Pacwest vs. Sound View (loser out). 7:15 p.m. — West Valley vs. North Bothell (loser out).

Friday: 5 p.m. — Larch Mountain vs. winner Pacwest vs. Sound View (loser out). 7:15 p.m. — South Kitsap Western vs. winner West Valley-North Bothell (loser out).

Mill Creek and Issaquah made quick work of its opponents in remaining unbeaten in the Washington State 8-10 Little League Baseball Tournament.

Sam Craig drove in six runs to power Mill Creek past Larch Mountain, 13-0, in a winners bracket semifinal Wednesday at Aberdeen’s Failor Field.

Ending the game with 14 unanswered runs, Issaquah trounced South Kitsap Western, 17-3, in the first half of Wednesday’s doubleheader. Both games were shortened to four innings by the 10-run mercy rule.

Issaquah and Mill Creek will collide in the winners bracket final scheduled for 12:15 p.m. Saturday. The winner advances to the title round beginning Monday.

District III champion Larch Mountain, managed by Aberdeen High grad Phil Sayamnet, will face the survivor of tonight’s Pacwest-Sound View contest in a loser-out game scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday. Larch Mountain needs three victories over the weekend to earn a berth in the title round.

Mill Creek 13, Larch Mountain 0

Craig was Larch Mountain’s primary nemesis in this contest. The Mill Creek cleanup batter delivered an RBI single in the first inning, a bases-clearing double in the second and a two-run double in the third inning.

Drew Pepin added a pair of doubles and four RBIs for the Everett-area club, which has outscored its state opponents, 33-4, in three tourney appearances.

Mill Creek pitchers Lucas Poindexter and Jackson Rabe, meanwhile, combined on a two-hitter. After collecting 24 walks in its first two state outings, Larch Mountain drew nary a free pass in this contest (although Poindexter did hit one batter).

Pepin’s RBI double and Craig’s run-scoring single highlighted a three-run first inning that put Mill Creek ahead to stay.

Taydee Evenstar and Will Feltus each singled to account for Larch Mountain’s hits.

Issaquah 17, S. Kitsap Western 3

Locked in a 3-3 standoff after 1 1/2 innings, Issaquah scored seven runs apiece in the second and third innings. South Kitsap Western’s defense decidedly went south in those two frames, as the Port Orchard-based club was conservatively credited with six of its seven errors in those innings.

Jack Babuin doubled and singled while Mason Uchimura and Ernie Whelan added two singles apiece for Issaquah. Uchimura, Whelan and Hudson Carvalho drove in two runs apiece.

Tristan Short and Spencer Strohauer had the only two hits for South Kitsap Western.