Submitted photo – The McKinleyville 10-year-old All-Stars are 1-1 at the Section 2 tournament in Cottonwood.

Barely 14 hours after their big win in their Section 2 tournament opener, the McKinleyville 10-year-old Little League All-Stars struggled to get much going in a 16-1 loss to Chico in three innings on Saturday morning.

The loss sets up a Sunday showdown against Sutter Area, the same team McKinleyville beat 12-2 in Friday’s tourney opener.

The quick turnaround in extremely hot conditions may have played a role in Saturday’s loss.

“We just showed up flat with hardly any recovery time,” head coach Quintin Carper said. “We just struggled. Everyone had a part in it.”

The good news is they’re not done yet and they’ll get the opportunity to bounce right back on Sunday.

The Mack players won’t lack confidence going against a team they comfortably defeated on Friday and they will have their full complement of pitchers available going forward.

Carper says he will likely start Asher Kapko on the mound for Sunday’s big do-or-die showdown, with team aces Jacob Carper and Crew Hicks available for the following day, which could feature a rematch with Chico.

The Chico all-stars used their ace on the hill in Saturday’s game, but he won’t be available on Monday because of his pitch count.

Chico will now play East Redding in the winners’ bracket, with the loser of that game facing either McKinleyville or Sutter Area on Monday.

“I kind of like where we’re sitting in our bracket,” Quintin Carper said “I’ve got a lot of confidence in our pitchers to battle back.”

McKinleyville gave up just three earned runs and 13 unearned in Saturday’s loss as eight defensive errors proved costly.

The McKinleyville pitchers also walked seven batters and allowed two more reach base on hit-by-pitches.

“Walks and defensive errors killed us,” Quintin Carper added.