baseball

McKinleyville 10s win again to keep state championship hopes alive

Submitted photos – The McKinleyville All-Stars in Turlock on Tuesday.

The McKinleyville 10-year-old All-Stars kept their hopes of a Northern California state championship alive with a comfortable 11-1 win over Land Park Pacific in Turlock on Tuesday afternoon.

The win was the second straight in an elimination game at the tournament for the Mack players, who have responded well to a Sunday loss to San Mateo and are now guaranteed at least a top-three finish at the prestigious tournament.

McKinleyville will play again at 7 p.m. on Wednesday with a place in the championship round on the line.

The local All-Stars clearly came ready to play on Tuesday and dominated in all aspects of the game, out-hitting Land Park Pacific 19-5.

Several Mack players stepped up in the win, none more so than Breyden Brock, who continued his impressive postseason with another big performance.

Brock pitched 5.2 innings for the win, allowing just five hits and one walk and striking out six.

It was his second win over Land Park Pacific in tournament play.

Brock also was instrumental at the plate and led his team with four hits and a run.

The McKinleyville coaches changed the order a little bit and it worked to perfection.

Hudson Kapko was moved into the lead-off spot and finished 3-for-5 with a walk and three runs, while Teoh Arredondo finished with three hits and two walks and reached base all five times he went to bat.

Tanner Baxter, Colton Hawkes, Liam Currell and Asher Avelar each added a pair of hits, while Jared Brunner had one.

Lucas Ball came in to relieve Brock and got the final out of the game to seal the win.

Manager Carlos Avelar was forced to miss the game after being ejected from an earlier tournament game and believes the players stepped up in his absence.

“I think the kids really played their hearts out for the coach that wasn’t there,” he said. “That and our pitching and our hitting (all impressed me). A lot of people contributed.”

McKinleyville is now 3-1 in tournament play.

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