Chehalis' Drayson Hilkmeier is mobbed by teammates after he delivered the walkoff hit for the Mint City's 10-9 victory over Capital in the District 3 10-11 Year Old Little League Tournament on Monday in Centralia.
Chehalis' Drayson Hilkmeier is mobbed by a teammate after he delivered the walkoff hit for the Mint City's 10-9 victory over Capital in the District 3 10-11 Year Old Little League Tournament on Monday in Centralia.
Chehalis' Britt Lusk reacts to a strike out during the Mint City's 10-9 victory over Capital in the District 3 10-11 Year Old Little League Tournament on Monday in Centralia.
Chehalis' Max Taylor reaches first base safely during the Mint City's 10-9 victory over Capital in the District 3 10-11 Year Old Little League Tournament on Monday in Centralia.
Chehalis' Max Taylor slides into home plate safely in the sixth inning of the Mint City's 10-9 victory over Capital in the District 3 10-11 Year Old Little League Tournament on Monday in Centralia.
Chehalis' Lucas Wichert runs home safely during the Mint City's 10-9 victory over Capital in the District 3 10-11 Year Old Little League Tournament on Monday in Centralia.
Chehalis' Britt Lusk scores the winning run of the Mint City's 10-9 victory over Capital in the District 3 10-11 Year Old Little League Tournament on Monday in Centralia.
Britt Lusk touched home with an exaggerated stomp, scoring the winning run for his Chehalis 10-11-year-old All-Stars as they downed Capital, 10-9, in the District 3 Little League Tournament on Monday at Centralia’s Dick Scott Field.
Lusk had every right to stomp, as the run kept the Mint City boys alive in the tourney's lower bracket, and was a fitting relief after the 11-year old had to pitch the final three innings of a back-and-forth affair.
"Britt's very competitive," Chehalis coach Scott Wichert said. "He's very passionate."
Lusk fanned seven in the final three innings of the ballgame, including two big strikeouts that ended a 2-run rally by Capital in the top of the sixth. That kept Chehalis at least within striking distance, trailing 9-5 with just their final three outs to work with.
"We told the kids before the bottom of the sixth that their season comes down to this and they showed they had a lot of fight in them," Wichert said.
Chehalis scored 3 runs in the first inning and 2 more in the second in what looked like an early rout. Capital battled back in the third inning, taking advantage of three errors, three walks and a big double by Junior Johns that scored three runs to tie things up at 5-5.
"The kids started off strong but got relaxed there in the middle innings and couldn't get it going until late — very late," Wichert said.
Capital then took the 7-5 lead in the fifth and then added 2 more insurance runs in the top of the sixth. Chehalis had to overcome a 4-run deficit and wasted little time doing so.
Singles by Carter McCoy and Cade Haller set up an 2-run single by Max Taylor. Capital then committed two errors to allow 2 more runs to score and Lusk was able to reach base via walk. A single by Evan Moon and another Capital miscue moved him over to third base. Drayson Hilkemeier then delivered the walk-off hit to become the hero of the Mint City for at least a night.
That moves Chehalis into a semifinal bout tonight at 6 p.m. They'll have to win three straight games to earn a berth in the state tournament, as the bracket is set up as double-elimination.
Taylor finished the game with 2 hits and 2 RBIs, while Lusk drove in 2 runs. Evan Moon also drove in a run for Chehalis. Lusk finished at 77 pitches.
Saturday's Results
Larch Mountain 14, Chehalis 13: Lucas Wichert hit a grand slam and added a double, Britt Lusk had four hits with a double, and Cade Haller had three hits with a double for Chehalis on Saturday, but Larch Mountain tied it at 11-11 in the bottom of the sixth and added 3 in the bottom of the extra inning for the win.
Sunday's Results
Chehalis 7, Centralia 2: Chehalis scored 6 in the first inning and it proved to be enough against its crosstown rivals in an elimination game on Sunday. Austin Johnson, Carter McCoy and Lucas Wichert each had two hits, and Cade Haller pitched into the sixth inning to earn the win. Benito Valencia had two hits and an RBI for Centralia, which was eliminated with the loss.
