Babe Ruth: Twin Cities 15s Sweep Willapa Harbor to Advance to State

Dakota Hawkins, as winning pitchers tend to do, expressed gratitude toward his defense for backing him up during his five-inning performance Monday night.

Really, though, his defense had precious little to do in the first game of the Twin Cities All-Stars’ doubleheader rout of Willapa Harbor in the 15-year-old District 3 Babe Ruth playoffs.

The sweep — by 11-0 and 18-0 scores at Bearcat Baseball Stadium in Chehalis — puts the Mint and Hub city boys in next week’s Southern Washington Babe Ruth State Tournament, which starts next Wednesday in Hoquiam.

And judging by the way things played out Monday, the All-Stars are ready.

Hawkins’ Game 1 performance was dominant by any definition. The righthander struck out 12, walked two and allowed one hit in five innings of work.

“We’ve been hitting the ball pretty well, which helped me a lot,” he said, “but credit behind me, especially that one inning where I got the ground balls. That helped me out, too.”

There was, in fact, only one inning in which Willapa Harbor hit any ground balls. Hawkins struck out the first two batters he faced, walked the third, and then fanned seven in a row, meaning the defense didn’t field a ball until the fourth inning — and the first ball put in play was a grounder back to the pitcher.

A grounder to second and a runner who walked and was caught stealing ended the fourth, and the only Willapa Harbor hit of the game — a liner into shallow left field by Hayden Huff — led off the fifth inning.

“I was a little frustrated, but I tip my hat to the kid,” Hawkins said. “I’ll give it to him.”

He struck out the next three batters, of course, to end the game.

At the plate, meanwhile, Twin Cities looked more than ready all night. The 11-0 win in Game 1 featured nine hits, with a six-run rally in the second breaking things open.

Kevin Clevenger went 2 for 2 and drove in two runs, with a pair of doubles off the high left-field wall. Hawkins was 2 for 3 with four RBIs and a double off the left-field wall, and Nat Lopez was 1 for 2 with a two-run double in the fourth inning.

Jose Pineda, Isiaih Trevino and Andrew Anderson were each 1 for 1 in the win, which took all of 62 minutes to wrap up.

The 18-0 win in the nightcap, however, took a bit longer to finish off, due mostly to Twin Cities’ 17 hits and the 10 free bases — including seven walks — dealt by Willapa Harbor’s pitchers.

The All-Stars led 4-0 after two innings before an extended third frame in which every batter had two turns at the plate. The 11 hits, five walks and hit batter helped push a whopping 14 runs across, essentially putting the game on ice.

Anderson had two RBI singles in the third inning alone, while Trevino knocked a two-run double and a single in the third.

Clevenger had two hits, with a double and two RBIs, while Hawkins was 2 for 4 with an RBI and Bryce Dobyns went 3 for 3. Camden Bull had two hits and drove in three runs, and Josh Dixon went 2 for 3 with two RBIs.

Dobyns pitched a complete game, giving up three hits and striking out six. The highlight, however, came when he tossed a high, looping Eephus pitch for a swinging third strike to end the third inning.

He tried the pitch again in the fifth inning, getting a ground-ball out.

“It’s practically what he’s been throwing since he was 9, in Little League,” Hawkins said. “We were pretty excited when he threw that first one for a strike. But hey, he gets ‘em off balance, and gets ‘em to challenge it.”

Twin Cities will face the runner-up from District 1 (which covers Clark, Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties) in its state opener on Wednesday, in the first game of the day at Hoquiam’s historic Olympic Stadium.

And Monday’s outing should send Twin Cities off on a high note.

“I think it’s a little bit of a boost, because we’ve been hitting so well,” Hawkins said. “And with the heat down in the Harbor and stuff, I think we’ll be hitting just fine. We should be good.”

Notes: The Babe Ruth 15s will host a breakfast fundraiser at the Chehalis Applebee’s restaurant on Sunday, with the proceeds helping to cover tournament and travel costs for the rest of the playoffs. A full breakfast will be served from 8 to 10 a.m. at $10 a person. … The District 3 tournament was played under a different format this year. The district had its typical two berths into the Southern Washington tournament, and three teams — Twin Cities, Grays Harbor and Willapa Harbor — vying for those berths. Grays Harbor, however, was an automatic entry as the tournament host, leaving just Willapa Harbor and Twin Cities to compete for the final spot. The regular district tournament, then, was reduced to a best-of-three series, starting (and, ultimately, ending) with Monday’s twinbill in Chehalis.