The Kennewick American All-Stars opened pool play at the 12-and-under Pacific Northwest Cal Ripken regional tournament with a pair of victories Thursday at the Kennewick American complex.
Kennewick opened the tournament with an 11-0 victory over Dallas (North Oregon) behind Justin Kreutz and Eric Mann, who combined on a three-hitter.
In the nightcap, Kennewick scored eight runs in the first three innings and held off Black Hills (Southern Washington) for an 8-5 win.
"Kreutz just kept them off balance," All-Stars coach Jeff Plew said of the shutout. "He started them off with a curveball to keep them guessing, and they just couldn't put a bunch of hits together. And our defense took over from there."
And Kennewick's offense took command, too, as the All-Stars built a six-run streak in the bottom of the sixth, starting with a bases-loaded single by Austin Forsyth that brought home two runs, and followed by a Steven Sordahl single and Dallas center field error that combined to bring home two more.
Clayton Ayres continued Kennewick's strong effort on the mound against Black Hills, striking out six as four pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts in the game.
"Black Hills is a scrappy bunch of kids," Plew said of the team that thumped Ferndale 9-1 earlier in Game 2. "It's a pretty tough bracket we're in."
All-Stars 11, Dallas 0
Dallas Northern 000 00 -- 0 3 3
Kennewick 140 06 -- 11 12 0
Keaton Weaver, Tristan Wheeler (4) and catcher unreported;Justin Kreutz, Eric Mann (5) and Justin Hancock. Highlights--Justin Kreutz (K) 1x3; Larry DeWitt (K) 2x4, 2B, 3B; Clayten Ayres (K) 2x4; Mitchell Mueller (K) 1x2, 2B; Colton Plew (K) 1x4; Austin Forsyth (K) 1x1; Eric Mann (K) 1x3; Steven Sordahl (K) 2x2; Austin Morfin (K) 1x1.
All-Stars 8, Black Hills 3
Kennewick 413 000 -- 8 6 2
Black Hills 003 110 -- 5 11 3
Jordan Adams, Chase Conhagen (2), Caden Waggner (3), Anthony Correia (4), Kyle Miller (6) and Chris O'Bannon; Mueller, Sordahl (3), Ayres (5) and Hancock. Highlights--Kreutz (K) 1x2; Ayres (K) 1x4, 6K; Hancock (K) 1x3, 2B; Plew (K) 1x2, 2B; A.Forsythe (K) 1x2; Sordahl (K) 1x2, 2K; Mitchell (K) 3K; Scotty Harris (BH) 2x4; Riley Stordahl (BH) 1x2; Kyle Miller (BH) 2x3 2B; Chase Copenhager (BH) 3x3; Corrine Loncar (BH) 2x3; Caden Waggner (BH) 1x3.
Cal Ripken 12s regional tournament
Thursday's games
East Boise 4, Stevensville (Mont.) 1
Black Hills 9, Ferndale 1
West Kootenay (B.C.) 12, Livingston (Mont.) 10
Kennewick 11, Dallas (Ore.) 0
Ferndale 5, Bellingham 3
Western (Wash.) 10, Stevensville 0
Kennewick 8, Black Hills 5
East Boise 9, West Kootenay 2
Little League 10s
VANCOUVER -- McKaden Manderbach had a double, a triple and three RBIs, Conner Perryman and Griffey March scored three runs each as Greater Richland beat Glenwood 12-2 at 10U Little League state tournament.
Richland 12s
MILL CREEK -- Greater Richland was eliminated from the Washington State 12U Little League tournament with an 11-5 loss to Richmond in seven innings.
Greater Richland ended its tournament run with a fifth-place finish.