The Mercer Island 9-10 All-Stars saw a spirited run in the state tournament go all the way to the championship round July 25 and 26 in Montesano, Wash. Competing against 13 Washington all-star teams, Mercer Island came away with a second-place trophy.
After winning the district title in early July, Mercer Island took a nine-game winning streak into the state tournament finals, winning its first four games of the tournament and beating its first three opponents by an average of 10 runs per game, including a 13-4 victory over eventual champs Federal Way in their second game.
Mercer Island overcame Walla Walla 5-3 in the winner’s bracket final round before crossing paths in the championship yet again with Federal Way, which had won five straight games in the loser’s bracket to reach the tournament finals.
Despite seeing Federal Way take the lead on two separate occasions during the contest, Mercer Island bounced back to tie the game both times. Heading into the top of the sixth and final inning tied 7-7, Federal Way took their third and final lead to eventually pull out an 11-8 win.
Even in defeat, manager Robin Fuchs called it a great run with a great group of boys.
“District 9 is typically one of the most difficult districts in the state, and we went undefeated through the district tournament, went to the state tournament and didn’t lose until the finals,” Fuchs said.
“They were a bunch of resilient boys who fought hard in the championship game to come back and tie it up. These 10-year-olds did everything we asked of them, leaving it all out on the field and gave it their best.”
11-12 All-Stars fall to Cascade
The Mercer Island 11-12 All-Stars saw their bid for a third-consecutive Little League state title end in the championship game of the 2015 state tournament, falling to Cascade 15-6 Saturday, Aug. 1 at Northshore Athletic Fields in Woodinville.
The defending state champs opened the double-elimination tournament on July 26 falling to Auburn 9-6, before reeling off five straight wins to reach the title game. Mercer Island smoked Larch Mountain 31-1, beat Stilly Valley 10-5 and West Valley 19-6 before a rematch with Auburn, with Mercer Island pulling out an 8-7 victory. Mercer Island overcame Northwest 9-5 to reach the finals against Cascade, a team from Vancouver, Wash. that went undefeated throughout the winner’s bracket.
Team manager Peter Noone said that in Saturday’s final, Cascade simply played unbeatable baseball in a game that proved to be the final of the Little League careers for the Mercer Island All-Stars.
“These boys worked so hard, the hardest part was seeing an end and knowing there was no tomorrow,” said Noone, who had coached the team for six years.
“The team was resilient after getting upset in the first game, we ran off five straight wins. It wasn’t like one or two people carried us, someone new stepped up each game. It was a total team effort winning five in a row to get back to the championship game. We wanted this bad. We were two-time defending state champs and felt it was our tournament to win, and we fought hard.”