Submitted photo- The Redwood Empire 12s won on Saturday and are now 1-1 in tournament play.
The District 26 teams continue to showcase the strength of Humboldt County Little League with some big performances at their respective Section tournaments this weekend.
On Saturday, the Eel River 10s continued to roll with a dominating 15-0 win over Intermountain in Lake County, as they improved to 2-0 and are now one of two unbeaten teams remaining in tournament play.
They play again in the winners’ bracket on Sunday when they face Sutter Area at 10 a.m., with the winner of that game advancing to the championship round.
Also in action this weekend, the Redwood Empire 11s won a tough tournament opener in Chico, beating East Redding 7-4.
The young RELL players will be back in action on Sunday morning when they face Chico Central at 10 a.m.
The RELL 12s are also playing at their Section tournament in Colusa.
After dropping their opening game in tournament play to Chico Central, 4-0, on Friday evening, the District 26 champs kept their season going with a big 10-0 win over Feather River early on Saturday with Logan Mayberry pitching a perfect game.
Redwood Empire will play another elimination game on Sunday morning, facing off against Sutter Butte at 11 a.m.
The Eel River All-Stars started their tournament with a 5-4 walk-off win over Westside Chico on Thursday and continued to roll with a quick three-inning victory on Saturday.
“They showed up today and took care of business, as they should have,” Eel River manager Erik Bess said of his players after Saturday’s win.
Several players stepped up for the local champs, most notably at the plate where the young Eel River players displayed a keen eye with 11 team walks.
Truen Cobb and Miusel Junior Mandujano Soto led the way for Eel River at the plate and both finished 2-for-2 with two runs.
Cobb also drove in four runs, while Mandujano Soto had two RBIs.
Two Eel River pitchers — Knox Danielson and Drake Bohn — combined to throw a no-hitter and struck out six between them.
With back-to back wins to start the five-team tournament, the Eel River players are in good shape right now as they get set for another big game on Sunday.
“We have all of our pitchers available,” Bess said. “It should be a great game tomorrow.”
The RELL 11s also are own good shape at their tournament after their opening win on Friday night.
The District 26 champs stepped up late to take control of what had been a tight game.
“It was a tough game and it could have gone either way,” RELL manager Bob Machin said. “We came alive in the last inning.”
Chico Central led for much of the game, opening up a two-run advantage in the first, only for RELL to pull even with a pair of runs in the second.
Chico retook the lead with two more runs in the top of the fourth, before RELL answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning.
But with young Dawson Morgan leading the way, the Redwood Empire players scored four late runs to take a lead they would not relinquish.
Submitted photo – The RELL 11s won their tournament opener on Friday night.
Morgan finished 3-for-3 and also made “several great stops” at second base on his way to earning tournament player of the game honors for his play and sportsmanship.
Dominic Robinette also had a big game for the local All-Stars, finishing with a pair of hits.
Morgan and Robinette combined for five of the team’s eight hits on the day, and Eel River made them all count.
“We didn’t put up a lot of hits, but we had some timely base running, and each player who had a hit scored,” Machin said.
Four RELL pitchers — Jameson Tyson, Dean Rasmussen, Bentley Palmer and Robinette — featured in the game, combining to hold their opponents to just four runs and striking out nine.
Rocco Pearson also impressed in the win, making a big play in left field and throwing hard to home plate, where catcher Beckston Fisher tagged out a runner.
“That play Rocco made from left field was awesome,” Machin said. “The team was pumped after that.”
Fisher also made some nice catches in center field, before switching to catcher late in the game.
“We rose to the occasion and came back and showed them what we’re about,” Machin said.
The RELL 12s, meanwhile, stepped up on Saturday when they needed to the most.
Mayberry dominated on the mound and Treyce Conley had the highlight play of the day with a home run, his 20th on the season.
“Today they got it going,” Redwood Empire manager Tyler Conley said of his players.
No one more than Mayberry.
“He pitched great,” the manager said. “He hit his spots and threw a ton of strikes, and we were able to make the plays behind him. He pitched a gem.”
Mayberry got plenty of offensive support with several of his teammates impressing at the plate.
In addition to Treyce Conley’s big blast, Bryson Barreto had multiple hits and led the team with three RBIs, while Oliver Yoder and Wesley Ask also had multiple hits in the win.
Friday night’s game, meanwhile, was a pitcher’s’ duel with the two teams combing for 26 strikeouts over the six innings.
The Redwood Empire players had opportunities — “we got guys in scoring position almost every inning,” Tyler Conley said — but they were unable to come up with the big hit when they needed it.
“Hopefully we get to see those guys again, but we’ve got to get through the next few games,” Tyler Conley said.
The five-team tournament is now down to four teams and RELL will be hoping to make it to the final three when they play Sutter Butte.
