Richland 11s win WA Little League title + Kennewick 12s’ quest for Cal Ripken title
The future for Richland National Little League looks bright for the 2024 season after the league’s 11-and-under squad went 5-0 en route to winning the Washington State Little League tournament on July 29 in Anacortes.
Richland defeated Bellevue National 3-2 in the title game when Rocky Lee singled in the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
In that championship win, Carter Larsen tossed a complete-game win, fanning eight batters, scattering six hits and giving up those two runs.
Singles by Larsen, Landry Ovenell and Jason Oliver in the bottom half of the sixth helped set up Lee’s heroics.
RNLL had to rally from behind in its final three state contests.
That was tough. What was tougher was learning that earlier in the week Andy Lusk, the RNLL’s tournament director and a long-time league board member, suffered a fatal stroke.
Lusk was the father of RNLL 12U all-star Colten Lusk, and the elder Lusk could always be at the ballpark helping in some way.
It was Lusk who helped set up some tough competition for the 11U squad before the elimination-competition tournaments (district and state) began. He did that by getting some of the better teams to play against in warmup tournaments.
Lusk’s efforts helped the Richland team prepare for a successful state tournament run.
The results were in the scores: a 4-0 shutout of South Kitsap; a 10-4 trouncing of Salmon Creek; a 5-2 win over Northeast Seattle; and an 5-2 victory over Pacific in the winner’s bracket championship.
That led to the 3-2 state title win over Bellevue.
As 11U state champions, the RNLL players can’t go any further in post-season competition. But the majority, if not all, players will return next season with a chance to possibly make it to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn.
Team members are Roy Christensen, Payson Galbreath, Keagan Kafentzis, Cade Koppenaal, Carter Larsen, Rocky Lee, Bronx Markel, Nolan Moody, Brody Nipper, Jason Oliver, Landry Ovenell, Travis Smith, and Gavin Williamson.
Team manager is Shane Markel, and assistant coaches are Joel Koppenaal and Tyler Kafentzis.
Cal Ripken World Series
Speaking of 11-year-olds, in 2022 the Kennewick National 11s won the Pacific Northwest Regional title in Cal Ripken Baseball play.
Since there is no Cal Ripken World Series for 11-year-olds, the organization offers a spot in the Major 70’s World Series for those 11-year-old teams that wins a regional tournament — as long as that team can pay its way to Branson, Mo., site of the World Series.
That’s what Kennewick National did, and the Branson tournament began on Friday with pool play.
It’s a large tournament — there are 36 teams involved from both the United States and overseas.
KN opened US C pool play on Friday, losing 6-4 to New England regional champion Easton, Mass.
Seven different players for Kennewick each had a hit, and the team tallied up 10 stolen bases in the game.
There are six teams in Pool C.
Besides Kennewick and Easton, Mass., other teams in the pool are Cherry Hill, N.J.; Hot Springs, Ark.; Ohio Valley regional champ Southeast Lexington, Ky.; and West Fargo, N.D.
Kennewick will play the other teams once each for five pool-play games.
The top two teams out of this pool with then advance to the championship bracket, single-elimination play beginning Wednesday.
The remaining teams will advance to the consolation Iron Man bracket tournament, also with single-elimination play.
Here is Kennewick’s pool-play schedule for the next few days (all times Pacific): Sunday, Aug. 6, 9:30 a.m., vs. Lexington, Ky.; Monday, Aug. 7, 9:30 a.m., vs. West Fargo, N.D.; Tuesday, Aug. 8, 7 a.m., vs. Hot Springs, Ark.
The KN rosters is as follows: Blake Boruff, Kellen Brost, Cooper Davis, Jameson DeVoir, Dylan Gale, Luke Hagensen, Jacob Hilkey, Tre’Shaun Lowe, Teague Meagher, Colt Miller, Levi Pease, and William Wickerd.
The team manager is Gabe Boruff, and his assistants are Jordan DeVoir, Chris Meagher and Casey Miller.
Football
A second Kennewick Lion senior has committed to the University of Idaho.
Defensive lineman Dylin McIntyre has committed to the Vandals to play football their beginning the fall of 2024.
McIntyre has been a big part of the previous two Lions teams that made deep runs into the Class 3A state playoffs.
His current Lions teammate, offensive lineman Nathan Knapik, committed to the Vandals earlier this summer.
Knapik’s brother, Ayden Knapik, will be a sophomore for Idaho this fall. He started on the offensive line for the Vandals last season as a true freshman.
Softball
Kamiakin grad Emma Pennala has played in the outfield the past two seasons for the McCook Community College softball team in the Midwest.
But she recently signed a letter of intent to play for Ottawa University in Arizona, where she’ll be a junior this fall.
More baseball
Bellevue University in Nebraska, a school that played in the NAIA World Series in Lewiston in late May, has added two former Columbia Basin College pitchers to its roster.
Brady Toth (Borah of Boise graduate) and Jace Wessels (Clarkston) will be headed this year to play for the Bruins.
Toth was 6-2 with 2 saves, and had 31 strikeouts in 51.2 innings pitched this past spring; Wessels was 5-3 and had 54 strikeouts in 76.1 innings pitched this spring for the Hawks.
They’ll be joining third baseman Nick Grade, a Southridge High grad who also played at CBC, who has been starting for the Bruins.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
