TENINO — Montesano’s Little League All-Stars combined patience with pop to move one step closer to a return trip to state.
Winning pitcher Jayden McElravy aided his own cause with a grand slam homer as Monte trounced East County rival Elma, 12-1, Thursday in the winners bracket final of the District III Major League Little League Baseball Tournament at the Tenino City Park.
The last unbeaten team in the double-elimination tournament, Montesano will face once-beaten Centralia in today’s title round.
Centralia scored two unearned runs in the sixth inning to edge Elma, 6-4, in Friday’s losers bracket final.
The title round is scheduled for 1 and, if necessary, 3 p.m. Montesano can wrap up the title with a victory in the first championship game. A Centralia win would force a winner-take-all second contest.
The district champion advances to state competition beginning July 15 at Federal Way. The defending district major league champion, Montesano is largely populated by members of last year’s title team in the 10-11 age group.
Elma wound up third in the seven-team tourney.
Montesano 12, Elma 1
Playing in sweltering 90-degree temperatures on Thursday, Montesano made five Elma pitchers pay heavily for nine walks — all issued in the second and third innings. The contest was shortened to 3 1/2 innings by the 10-run mercy rule.
Three of Monte’s seven hits went for extra bases, with all figuring heavily in the scoring.
Montesano sent 12 batters to the plate in a seven-run second inning.
After three consecutive walks loaded the bases, Kaleb Ames and Bode Poler delivered back-to-back two-run doubles. Poler scored from third on Josh Wills’ bunt single and a pair of bases-loaded walks completed the inning’s output.
Two walks, sandwiched around a dropped line drive, filled the sacks again in Montesano’s third. McElravy, a right-handed pitcher but a left-handed hitter, promptly emptied them with a high drive that cleared the center-field fence.
The big lead enabled Montesano’s coaches to remove McElravy from the mound after throwing only 34 pitches through three scoreless innings — a development that will maintain his mound eligibility for today’s title round. Donovan Anthony completed the one-hitter by pitching the fourth.
Elma’s Kyren Hackney spoiled the shutout in that inning by reaching first on a strikeout-wild pitch combination, stealing second and continuing to the plate on a pair of errors.
Logan Witt mustered Elma’s lone hit by bouncing a single over the third baseman’s head in the second inning.
Monte’s Poler, with a double and single, was the only player on either team with multiple hits.
Centralia 6, Elma 4
The last of Elma’s six errors proved costly for the East County crew.
Down 4-0 after 3 1/2 innings, Elma did all its scoring in the fourth.
Andrew Sanders stroked a leadoff single and advanced to third when Jhett Odle’s grounder to deep short was thrown away. Grant Vessey punched a single to center field that scored Sanders.
Following a walk to Daren Sheppard, Derik Meadows lined a two-run single to left. Two outs later, Witt grounded a single up the middle to tie it.
Working on a five-hitter through five innings, Elma pitcher Meadows gave up a leadoff single to Kimena Luis in the sixth but struck out the next two batters (although an errant pickoff throw advanced pinch-runner Ross Kelley to second). But Kyler Lovato’s hard-hit grounder was misplayed by the second baseman, enabling Kelley to score.
Meadows reached his 85-pitch maximum at that point. After reliever Gibson Cain intentionally walked Moshie Eport, Ethan Estrada’s single knocked in an insurance run.
A one-out walk to Meadows brought the potential tying run to the plate in the Elma half of the sixth. But Eport, the fourth Centralia pitcher, retired the next two batters on a comebacker and strikeout to end it.
Lovato and Eport had slugged back-to-back homers — Lovato’s clearing the center-field fence by a good 20 feet — in the third inning.
Those were two of the few blemishes in what was a stellar pitching performance by Meadows. The Elma right-hander struck out seven and did not issue a walk (although he hit two batters).
Cain’s third-inning double was Elma’s only extra-base hit.
If nothing else, Friday’s game represented a contrast in pitching philosophies. While Meadows worked 5 2/3 innings, the first three Centralia hurlers threw fewer than 20 pitches to maintain their mound eligibility for today’s title round.
Elma 000 1 — 1 1 2Monte 075 x — 12 7 3
Witt, Hackney (2), Sanders (2), Vessey (2), Salazar (3) and Cain, Meadows; McElravy, Donovan Anthony (4) and Daunte Anthony, Harris.
Centralia 002 202 — 6 7 2Elma 000 400 — 4 7 6
Percival, Guerrero (2), Seymour (3), Eport (4) and Terry; Meadows, Cain (6) and Cain, Hackney.
