By Ray Hamill — It was a night to celebrate all that is good about local Little League.

On Wednesday, the McKinleyville 12-year-old All-Stars capped a perfect run through the District 26 tournament with a thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind walk-off win over rival Redwood Empire in front of a big crowd at Hiller Park in McKinleyville.

The young Mack players rallied from a two-run deficit with three runs in the bottom of the sixth and final inning to secure the title and a place in next week’s Section tournament.

If they can claim the Section championship as well, they would then get the opportunity to play for a NorCal state tournament title later in the month.

After McKinleyville had scored twice to tie the game at 2-2, Tyus Scofield went to bat and drove in teammate Nathan Ryan for the tournament-clinching run and the wild celebrations began.

“They’re just a really scrappy group,” McKinleyville manager Kirby Hawkes said of his players after the thrilling victory. “They hit one through 12 and our defense was solid. 

“We have good pitching and they all mesh well. There’s a good vibe in the dugout and they never get down.”

The players certainly never lost hope in Wednesday’s game and went into the final inning with a firm belief they could still prevail.

Cooper Jones played a key role in the late comeback, leading off the inning with a crucial walk that would inspire his teammates.

He was soon joined on base by teammates Tatum Brock and Ryan to load the bases with one out.

The next batter up was James Miner, who was hit by a pitch to score Jones, which Kirby Hawkes described as a “huge” play.

Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports – Tyus Scofield and McKinleyvile manager Kirby Hawkes celebrate their championship win on Wednesday night.

Submitted photo

Back-to-back base hits by Colton Hawkes and Scofield then secured the dramatic win and ignited the postgame celebrations.

“They were battling all the way to the end,” Kirby Hawkes added. “It was a fun one.”

The loss ended the season for the Redwood Empire players, but it was a good run for the team, which had beaten Eel River in an elimination game on Tuesday to remain in contention for the championship.

In particular, outstanding pitcher Parker Morgan dominated on the hill in Wednesday’s game before being pulled in the sixth inning because of his pitch count.

“He’s a great player,” Kirby Hawkes said of Morgan, who also hit a crucial home run in his team’s 10-3 win over Eel River the previous night. 

However, Brock matched Morgan for much of the night to give McKinleyville a shot late in the game.

The young Brock held the RELL bats scoreless until the fifth, when they broke the deadlock with a pair of runs, one of which came on a passed ball.

“Tatum Brock threw a great game,” his manager said. “He kept us in the game and our defense played good behind him.

“He matched Parker’s performance. We just asked Tatum to keep us in the game, and that’s what he did.”

Brock got plenty of help from a McKinleyville defense that had just one error in three tournament games.

“Throughout the whole tournament, our defense was pretty solid all the way around,” Kirby Hawkes said.

McKinleyville opened tournament play with a 10-0 win over Eel River, with Brock, Scofield and Colton Hawkes all seeing time on the mound.

They followed that with a 5-2 win over Redwood Empire on Monday, with Colton Hawkes and Bo Battilocchi both combining on the hill.

The trip to the Section tournament is nothing new for this group of McKinleyville All-Stars, a roster that also includes Rowdy Furber, Crew Hicks, Reece Combs, Casanova Marshall and Braden Tullis.

And many of those players were on hand two years ago as 10-year-olds when they qualified for the NorCal State Tournament.

“The majority of this team is still together,” the manager said. “It’s a pretty solid group. We’ve got a deep lineup and that makes it really hard to get outs.”

The McKinleyville manager also paid tribute to the Redwood Empire players, who pushed the champs all the way.

“They’re a really good ball club and they have some talented players,” he said. “They’re a very good opponent and they gave us a good run, and we knew they would.”

The Mack All-Stars will now turn their attention to next week’s Section tournament in Chico, with their opening game on Saturday July 12.

And they will carry the hopes of the District 26 teams, who usually fare well at the Section tournaments, which is a testament to the quality of Little League baseball here on the North Coast.

“I think our district tournament is one of the toughest to win,” Kirby Hawkes said.