Auburn Little League 10-11 All-Stars take district title

Published 11:13 am Monday, July 6, 2015

For the Reporter

The Auburn Little League 10-11 All-Stars captured the District 10 tournament on June 28 to punched their ticket to the state championship.

Auburn defeated Steel Lake, 5-4, in extra innings behind solid pitching from Colton Anardi and Conner Sloan and some extra-inning hitting magic from the top of Auburn’s lineup.

After Steel Lake tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth, leadoff hitter Vicente Feliciano started the extra frame with a single to ignite Auburn. Anardi then singled to push Feliciano to third before Ethan Smetheram lined into centerfield to plate the winning run.

But those late-inning heroics would have been meaningless had the tight Auburn defense that carried it to the district final not shown up on championship Sunday.

With Auburn clinging to a 2-0 lead in the second inning, Smetheram fielding a ground ball to center field, fired home with a strike to catcher Riley Stewart to apply the tag for the final out of the inning.

Then, in the third inning, with runners at second and third with one out, first baseman Henry Dalrymple snagged a hard grounder down the line before tagging his bag and gunning the runner from third down at home, with Stewart again making another great play at the plate to end the threat.

After losing a close game to Steel Lake in the second game of the tournament a week earlier, Auburn had to fight its way through the losers’ bracket, playing nearly every day up through the championship.

Auburn’s ace, Drew Berkley, set up the weekend series against Steel Lake by pitching a near-complete game shutout against powerful Federal Way National Little League on June 26. Stellar defense supported Berkley, exemplified by Dylan Butler’s over-the-shoulder catch early in the game when the outcome was still in doubt, and Jay Mentink’s consistently solid fielding of hard-chopping grounders up the middle. Mentink was Auburn’s spark plug throughout the week on offense and defense, before handing the torch over to Feliciano for the weekend.

In addition to his great hitting, Feliciano set up the winner-take-all finale with a great pitching performance in Auburn’s 15-2 rout of Steel Lake in Game 1 of the championship weekend on June 27. A close game turned into a beat-down as Auburn scored seven runs with two outs — all keyed by Auburn’s deep bench.

With Matthew Dublinski hitting line drives, Mark Olson striking doubles and Logan Conner capping everything off with an inside-the-park home run, Auburn was firing on all cylinders.

Auburn’s bench came up big. Maclane Watkins and Richard Rodriguez played key roles throughout the week, helping keep the powerful Federal Way and Steel Lake offenses in check.

ALSO: The Auburn Little League 11-12 Majors All-Stars captured the District 10 title, posting a 4-0 record. The team – managed by Kai Nahaku, and featuring players Brodie Beilke, Blake Deshler, Javon Forward, Brett Harvey, Giovani Parascondola, Ian Middelburg, Jackson Conner, Wyatt Nelson, Grant Harris, Evan Jilbert, Kamana Nahaku, Rhett Stein and Brayton Eilenberger – plays in the 2015 Washington State Little League Baseball State Tournament July 25-Aug. 1 at the Northshore Athletic Fields in Woodinville. The state champion moves on to the Northwest Region Tournament Aug. 9-15 in San Bernardino, Calif.