Submitted,itted photo – The McKinleyville players and coaches celebrate their TOC championship at the Arcata Ball Park on Thursday night.

McKinleyville Little League got a busy summer tournament season off to a winning start on Thursday night, as the association’s A&I Roofing team won the District 26 Senior League Tournament of Champions.

The A&I Roofing players defended the title McKinleyville Little League won a year ago with a 10-0 win over the Arcata Outlaws in five innings.

Playing under the lights at the Arcata Ball Park, the Mack youngsters did not disappoint as they closed out their spring season with an unbeaten campaign.

“They’re all good ball players and they’ve been playing together for quite some time,” said head coach Casey Coelho, whose team went 13-0 this year, including back-to-back wins in tournament play on Wednesday and Thursday.

Tate Saso, who was also on last year’s TOC championship team, set the tone in the win, both at the plate and on the mound.

Saso gave up just three hits in a five-inning, complete-game performance and struck out seven.

At the plate, he finished 2-for-3 with a double.

His teammate Jacob Baker also had a double and finished 1-for-2, while Braylon Sotello and Tyson Marshall each also were 1-for-2.

Connor Tateman also had a base hit in the win.

Jake Brunner, who also was on last year’s TOC championship team, set the tone defensively with another strong performance at catcher, while second baseman Cabella Carper and first baseman Blake Carper both also had good games and made some key plays to help preserve the shutout.

All in all, it was another good season for the players, many of whom have been playing side-by-side for years.

Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Thursday night’s game at the Arcata Ball Park.

“It’s a fun group of kids to be around,” Coelho said. “They’ve got good energy and they’re easy to coach. It’s just a fun group. They keep it light and positive.”

It’s also a balanced team that can hit the ball, play defense and has depth at pitching.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” the coach said when asked what was the strength of the team. “They hit the ball well, all of them, from top to bottom, and we also had a lot of pitching, which helps.”

Saso and Brunner led the way for much of the season.

Saso played shortstop when he wasn’t pitching, while the versatile Brunner played catcher, shortstop, second base and third base.

Sotello, one of the older kids on the team, played a key leadership role while playing third base and pitching.

Cabella Carper also saw time behind the plate, where she has established herself as one of the top young catchers in the area in recent years.

Becker Rine, Corbin Green and Luke Jones each also made big contributions on the way to securing the championship, as did assistant coach Mark Saso.

“I’m proud of what the kids accomplished,” Coelho added. “They’re good ball players and I think they’ve got a pretty good future in baseball.”

The McKinleyville coach also praised the performance of the Arcata players.

“Arcata has some good ball players too,” he said. “And they’re well coached. I enjoyed playing against them.”