State-bound 10U All Stars hope to stay hot

TD head coach Ken Brock saw his young group battle the hot weather, deal with raucous crowds, overcome adversity and play inspired ball when their backs were against the wall.

The message remains the same, however – play calm and collected and have fun.

“It was great to see the kids game up and compete at district,” Brock said. “The same story should continue at state as long as we don’t have internal pressure to perform outside of ourselves. When these kids show up and take care of business like we do, everything else will fall into place.”

In six games last week in Prineville, the Stars scored 105 runs for an average of 17.5 runs per game, with a team batting average of .500 and a slugging percentage of .759, as 27 of their 79 hits went for extra bases, including two home runs by Braden Schwartz and one each by Riley Brock and Styles DeLeon.

Every player scored a run, received a walk and had at least one hit, as the team had an on-base percentage of .617 with 23 strikeouts in 207 plate appearances.

Cooper Klindt had a .556 batting average with five runs scored and Nolan Cates scored five runs, drove in five and had a .615 on-base percentage.

William Booth walked seven times, drove in 11 and scored 15 runs and was tied for second on the team with a .760 on-base percentage.

Cooper Cummings scored six runs and hit a triple, Riley Brock scored 11 runs and posted a .526 average in 19 at-bats and Braden VanSickle scored six runs and was on base 64 percent of the time in his 14 plate appearances.

Schwartz knows the opposing pitching will be tougher at this next level, so while the district numbers were an impressive feat, execution, patience at the plate, and taking what the pitchers give him will be just as important as the extra-base power these players have shown.

“There’s going to be some tough teams at state, and we need to keep doing what we are doing and practicing focused and ready to play TD baseball,” said Schwartz, who led the team with five doubles and 17 RBIs.

Schwartz was also one of the main arms coach Brock had at his disposal last week.

With the season on the line, the right-hander held Bend South down in a 20-1 rout to open the door for Riley Brock and DeLeon to finish the final two title games.

Booth and Nolan Donivan also saw some mound time, as did VanSickle, so that group dazzled teams to the tune of three runs or fewer allowed in five of six games.

What helped keep the pitch counts manageable at districts was the stellar play of the defense, so the team was still hard at work on the field this week for their three-hour practices at Kramer Field, with the emphasis on staying sharp.

“We need to keep winning and practicing hard,” said DeLeon, who scored 20 runs, slugged four triples and had a .739 batting average from his leadoff position. “If we drop a game, don’t drop our heads and keep a positive mindset, just like we did at districts.”

In the upper four-team bracket are Hermiston, Klamath Falls, The Dalles and Del Norte, out of California.

The bottom bracket features Lake Oswego, South Salem, Riverside and Clackamas.

TD plays Del Norte at noon Saturday, and if they win, they play the Hermiston-Klamath Falls winner at 3 p.m. Sunday.

If TD ends up losing to Del Norte, it plays the Hermiston-Klamath Falls loser at 9 a.m. Sunday.

The double-elimination championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, or at 6 p.m. Friday if one team has their first loss.

All that stands in the way of The Dalles and a historic program accomplishment of its first Little League State crown is a handful of victories.

This core group of hardballers will be in place for at least another two years, so 2016 has been a good first step in the right direction.

“I am relieved, but not satisfied where we got to this season,” said Donivan, who scored 14 runs and had a .444 batting average in 18 official at-bats. “I will be satisfied if we give it our all and do everything we can to win state this season for TD baseball.”