With a squad of four all-star veterans and eight newcomers, The Dalles 10U coach Ben Donivan is hoping that experience and attitude pave the way towards Little League District 5 playoff success.
Back for their second year of action, Kade Wilson, Preston Beeks, Ian Preston and Andy Maney lead a cast of talented athletes looking to establish themselves in a field of 10 teams, where only the champion moves on to state in Hermiston.
“We have got our guys returning that played all stars last year and we are looking for them to show some leadership to get these first-timers in tune with what to expect,” Donivan said.
There are 10 teams vying for top honors and while the teams are the same across the board, there remains a level of mystery behind the strengths and weaknesses of each squad.
Some of the top teams include John Day River, Hermiston, and Hood River Valley, both Bend programs and South Central.
Donivan emphasized scouting, game planning and preparation as off-field keys that can mean the difference between wins and losses.
The rest of the variables include hitting, pitching and defense.
Of all those three aspects, the pitching appears to be on track to control the game.
“Everybody on the team pitched at some point on their little league season, so we are pretty deep in that department,” Donivan said.
With so much depth at pitching, the Stars cannot win 0-0 games and the offense is expected to rack up many crooked numbers on the scoreboard. With the sticks, this group is well versed in bunts, moving runners over and executing in situations. During practice, they have displayed as ability to hit the gaps for some extra base hits.
“We are working hard on, we have good team speed, so we are working hard on bunting and playing some small ball and we also have guys who can pound it,” Donivan said. “What we are really working hard on getting good pitches to hit early in the count and putting the ball in play.”
Along with the veteran quartet, the Stars have Styles DeLeon, Riley Brock, Diego Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Braden Schwartz, William Lee, Nolan Donivan, Nathan Anderson and Evan Baldy blessed with the overall skill set to make prominent contributions on the field.
“We are more like a base hit team,” Wilson said. “We have some people who can hit home runs, but we can hit doubles and singles, steal bases and score a lot of runs.”
The rest of the order has the skill set to do some positive things from the batter’s box.
Offense, pitching and defense aside, throughout the roster there is confidence that top play will come out against some top programs.
“I am real excited. I think that we have the chance to win this tournament and then go on farther,” Beeks said. “We are going to have to play smart, not make mistakes and we have to hit good and play good defense.”
Coach Donivan takes pride in knowing he has a strong support system in place with assistant coaches Ken Brock and Nick DeLeon and volunteers Doug Sawyer and J.R. Runyon running workouts, implementing the mental part of the game as well as with fundamental work.
Beeks is also happy to have coaches around, who will encourage the players to compete every game.
“We have been coming together and getting along,” he added. “It would mean a lot to accomplish this. If we can win, it shows that The Dalles has good coaches and a good league.”
The Dalles has experience and youth on its side, so Wilson is hopeful that this squad can string some wins in a row to capture championship glory.
It is a process and if all goes according to plan, there is a possibility a road trip to Hermiston and beyond on the horizon.
However, that dream is a long ways away.
“I am pretty excited. I think if we work together, we might win the tournament,” Wilson said. “There is good competition here and we are really focusing on this tournament. We will just go out there and have fun. If we can stay focused and play our hardest, I think we can win a lot more this season.”
TD hits the diamond opposite South Central at 5 p.m. Saturday.
A win, pits the Stars into a matchup against either Jefferson County/Bend South/John Day River at 8 a.m. on June 29.
If TD loses its first game, competition moves to the loser’s bracket for a contest at 5 p.m. on June 28, where another loss eliminates them from contention.
A TD victory on June 29, sets up a game at 5 p.m. on July 1, where a win puts them in the championship at 10 a.m. on July 3.
An if necessary game would be played at 2 p.m.
For an in-depth story on the 11U Stars, check out Friday’s issue.
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