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A busy weekend for the local Little League All-Stars got off to an exciting start on Thursday night.

One of three county teams that are playing at Section tournaments, the Eel River 10-year-olds opened tournament play in Lake County with a 5-4 walk-off win over Westside Chico.

The District 26 champs had a slow start to the game and trailed 4-1 in the third.

But they finished strong, tying the game with three runs in the fourth and fifth innings combined, before sealing the victory in thrilling fashion.

“The first three innings we were a little slow. I think they were still on vacation mode,” said Eel River manager Erik Bess, whose players had three weeks off between games. “But after that third inning we picked it up, scored runs and started playing like the team we are.”

Kesler Lake scored the decisive run.

The youngster led off the sixth inning with a base hit, was advanced to second and then stole his way to third.

Lake would then score on a passed ball to end the game.

He finished the game 2-for-3, while teammate Carter Bess was 2-for-2 and scored a pair of runs.

Truen Cobb (1-for-3 with an RBI and a run) and Teigen Weitzel (1-for-1 with an RBI and a run) each also had a hit for Eel River.

Lake also got the start on the mound and threw 2.2 innings for a no-decision, giving up three runs on just three hits, with Jayce Fockaert and Carter Bess each also impressing in relief.

The young Bess threw the final two innings for the win, allowing no hits and no runs and striking out two.

All three pitchers got plenty of help from their defense, including a good day for Fockaert, who made six outs with his reliable glove at shortstop.

“Our defense was pretty solid — we only had one error the whole game,” Erik Bess said. 

After the opening-game victory, the young Eel River players will have a day off on Friday before resuming tournament play in the winners’ bracket on Saturday morning.

They play Intermountain at 10 a.m.

The Redwood Empire Little League 11s and 12s will open their Section tournaments on Friday night.