The home runs keep coming for the Kent Little League 10 and 11-year-old All-Star team.
And so do the wins.
Kent delivered another rout on Saturday at Windjammer Park in Oak Harbor, throttling Walla Walla 19-3 to earn a berth in the state championship game.
The Kent bashers launched four more home runs in the win, the team’s fourth in a row at the state tournament.
“We started hitting (Walla Walla) right away,” said Kent coach Scott McGuire.
Kent plays Greater Richland on Monday night for the title.
As for Saturday’s win, the offense continued to impress. Kent banged out 19 hits in the victory, three apiece by Brakken Newcomb, Jordan Jones, Garrett Stewart and Derek Welch. Newcomb also collected three RBIs in the win.
But Kent’s offense didn’t lift off until the second inning and was sparked by one of the few members on the roster who hadn’t yet gone deep this summer: Isaac Hegamin. Hegamin highlighted Kent’s second-inning rally, blasting a three-run homer to dead center field. Hegamin would later add a triple in the win, but it was his home run that left them talking afterward.
“It was a huge momentum shift for us,” said McGuire.
Jones and Garrett also muscled up for Kent. Jones launched a pair of home runs and drove in five in the game while Stewart added a home run among his three hits and drove in four.
“Now, out of the 11 players who are on the roster, eight have home runs,” McGuire noted. “And the other three are capable of it, they just haven’t hit them yet.”
Through the first four games of the tournament, Kent had outscored its opponents 61-18. Of those 18 runs allowed, however, 14 came in a 15-14 win over Greater Richland in a second-round game. Kent’s other victories came over Salmon Creek (9-1) and Capital (18-0).
Yet, as good as the offense was Saturday, the best performance of all was delivered by pitcher Derek Welch, who allowed five hits and struck out 11 in 5 1/3 innings of work.
“He was just awesome. Absolutely lights out,” McGuire said.
Jacob Rohweder, who closed out the game on the mound, also chipped in a pair of hits.
“I thought we were good enough to be (in the championship game), but it’s Little League and you just never know,” McGuire said.
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