Youth Baseball: Heavyweight clash brewing atop Kelso Youth Baseball standings
Opening Pitch – Introducing the N2/Blast Zone Media roundup for the littlest leagues and running down memory lane
Nick Sisson (N2 Media) special to BZM / blastzonenews@gmail.com
Youth Baseball / Roundup
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve put anything up on the blog, and I’ve been meaning to do so more often. So, today I decided it was time to put something together for everyone that cares about local prep sports coverage. (Not you, redacted)
I am once again proud to correspond with my good friend Jordan “Jody The Poet” Nailon of Blast Zone Media on a spring/summer project that will surely bring back fond memories from the days that have long since passed for old geezers like us.
You guessed it! Regular reports for the littlest local league are back. Good ol’ 90’s kids like me fondly remember scouring the sports pages of our local newspaper just to hopefully see our names in print for recognition after dusting off the likes of Baker Lumber, Superior Tire Service, or Market Place, although that didn’t happen very often to those bums.
Unfortunately, the dynamic of the youth baseball circuit isn’t quite what it used to be.
There aren’t as many leagues or nearly as many home runs. (See: Reese Baker and Brett Underberg). The days of Western, Central, Kelso, Cowlitz and others are gone and all we are left with Kelso Youth Baseball, Longview Youth Baseball, and whatever travel ball teams are thrown together last minute and are able to convince parents to spend $2,000 for $5 championship rings.
All jokes aside, it’s a special subject near to my heart and this area has a ton of talented young baseball players that deserve the type of recognition only GameChanger can provide. So, for the next few months I will be working on shining light on those special performances and providing league standings and some individual stats leaders from our local youth baseball factions.
In case you haven’t noticed, the regular season is well underway. Recently we’ve even been blessed with a few bursts of good weather to go along for the ride after a head scratching March start time that left athletes and spectators powering through games that began with sub 50 degrees temperatures that fell off the table like the curveball of that 10-year old pitcher you don’t remember the name of (But we do!). All that later winter chill hasn’t stopped some teams from scorching hot starts to the spring. Let’s see how things are stacking up so far over at Kelso.
KELSO YOUTH BASEBALL
1. PNW Cleaners 5-0 (6-0)
1. Wagner Orthodontics 5-0 (5-0)
3. Aquafix 3-2 (3-2)
4. Cor-Tech 1-3 (1-4)
5. Western Fab 0-4 (1-4)
5. Pac Tech 0-5 (0-5)
No teams have started as hot as PNW Cleaners and Wagner, and it’s already apparent these two teams are most likely on a collision course for the league championship in May. That might still be a long way away and it will give the others a chance at doing what every team wants to do once the season starts; get better along the way. It’s going to be a tall order for the rest of the league, though.
Cleaners has already racked up 92 runs scored in just six games, which averages out to just over 15 runs per game! Wagner isn’t too far behind that clip, however.
Wagner has only played five games thus far and have outscored their opponents a combined 71-8 and have won via mercy rule in each contest. The two teams are slated to play their first game against each other Saturday, April 25th at 5pm.
Aquafix isn’t too far behind the leaders at 3-2, however they dropped their first game against Cleaners 11-1, and recently they played Wagner and gave them a run for the money. Aquafix is the two-time defending league champs and coached by Steve Henifin, so expect them to remain in the hunt all season long.
It’s been a rough start to the year for the remaining three teams in the league compared to the top three in the standings, but anything is possible down the stretch.
Box Scores
Wagner Orthodontics 11, Cor-Tech 0
Cam Handy led Wagner at the plate going 2-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Mateo Samora, Cameron Marin and Brody Clark also doubled. Samora picked up the win on the mound.
PNW Cleaners 15, Western Fab 2
Cleaners had three pitchers Kade Shaw, Jax Sorensen and Wyatt Doebele combine to throw a no-hitter in the win. Kade Shaw, Cooper S, and Jordan L each had two RBI’s at the plate.
Aquafix 7, Pac Tech 6
Aquafix erased a 6-3 deficit late in a comeback win over Pac Tech. Logan Ribelin doubled in the bottom of the fifth and drove in the go-ahead run to help complete the comeback. Karson S had two hits and Asher Doehne had a double and two RBI’s as well for Aquafix. Easton G went 2-2 with a double and four RBI’s and Tucker Ford went 2-2 with two runs scored to lead Pac-Tech.
Cor-Tech 13, Pac Tech 4
Simon Taft went 3-3 at the plate with two RBI’s and three runs scored to lead Cor-Tech. Drescen G, Grayson Nevers, and Finn H had two hits apiece as well. Jaxson Iddings went 2-2 with a double and two runs scored, and Peyton Passmore went 1-2 with two RBI’s to lead Pac Tech at the plate. Stark Barnes-Coiteux struck out five batters for Cor-Tech on the mound, while Passmore also fanned five for Pac Tech.
Wagner Orthodontics 14, Western Fab 0
Cam Handy went 3-3 with two doubles and scored three runs, while Branley Sorensen also went 3-3 at the plate with two RBI’s and two runs for Wagner. Kabe Heinzman, Mateo Samora, and Davis Wright also picked up two hits and two RBI’s each at the dish. Brayden Cheatley collected the lone hit for Western Fab.
PNW Cleaners 22, Cor-Tech 4
Cleaners racked up 13 runs in the fifth inning to put the game out of reach and were led by Wyatt Doebele, Jax Sorensen and Kade Shaw at the plate, who each had two hits. Doebele and Sorensen drove in three, while Shaw drove in two. Shaw also struck out seven batters over 2.2 innings on the hill.
Aquafix 3, Western Fab 2
Aquafix got late game heroics once again from Logan Ribelin. Ribelin walked it off with a game winning double in the bottom of the sixth inning and finished with two RBI’s in the win. Karson S also collected two hits at the plate. Grady Bell and Liam Ouellette each pitched three innings and each only allowed two hits. Ouellette struck out eight, while Bell struck out five. Ashton S went 2-3 with an RBI at the plate and pitched three innings, only allowing one hit and one run for Western Fab.
Wagner Orthodontics 10, Pac Tech 0
Mateo Samora went 2-2 with two doubles, three RBI’s and two runs scored, and Easton Sorensen went 1-1 with a double, RBI and two runs to lead Wagner. Cam Handy went 1-2 with a double and he and Kabe Heinzman combined to toss a one-hitter. Jaxson Iddings collected the lone hit for Pac Tech.
PNW Cleaners 16, Pac Tech 2
Colton Lindeman, John C and Jackie J each collected two RBI’s at the plate, while Parker Mills and Cooper S each scored three runs for Cleaners. Landon Sanders went 1-1 with a run scored for Pac Tech.
PNW Cleaners 11, Aquafix 1
Cleaners blew open a close game with seven runs in the top half of the sixth inning to coast to the finish line. Kade Shaw had two hits and three RBI’s. Owen Gabel had two hits and two RBI’s, Parker Mills two RBI’s and Colton Lindeman went 2-2 with a triple for Cleaners. Shaw and Wyatt Doebele combined to toss a combined one-hitter, and each pitcher had six strikeouts. Huddy Henifin had the one hit for Aquafix.
Western Fab 8, Castle Rock 5
Todd Merideth went 1-1 with two runs scored and Brayden Cheatley went 1-2 with two runs scored in the win. Berek M, Walter Stebbins, and Oakley M all had one RBI for Western Fab.
Wagner Orthodontics 20, Western Fab 5
The bats erupted once again for Wagner. They collected a total of 21 base hits with 18 RBI’s in the win. Kabe Heinzman and Easton Sorensen each had three hits and three runs. Sorensen doubled and drove in four, while Heinzman drove in two. Brantley Sorensen had two hits and three RBI’s, Mateo Samora and Cameron Marin also had two hits each and drove in two runs. Marshall Dunlap had two hits for Western Fab.
Aquafix 11, Cor-Tech 1
Liam Ouellette went 2-2 with two RBI’s and two runs at the plate, and Grady Bell pitched all four innings for Aquafix, only allowing one run on three hits. Bell fanned five batters as well. Drescen G had two hits for Cor-Tech.
PNW Cleaners 14, Bob’s Sporting Goods (Longview) 2
Owen Gabel went 3-3 with a triple, double, one RBI and one run scored, while Jax Sorensen hit a 2-run homerun to lead Cleaners at the plate. Gabel combined with Jordan L to pitched a combined one-hitter in the mercy rule win. Max Street got the lone hit for Bob’s and also drew a walk in the loss.
PNW Cleaners 14, Pac Tech 6
Kade Shaw went 2-3 with a double, three RBI’s and two runs, while Colton Lindeman doubled and drove in two to lead Cleaners at the dish. Jackie J also doubled and picked up an RBI for Cleaners. Landen B had two hits and an RBI, and Landon Sanders collected a hit, RBI and a run scored for Pac Tech.
Wagner Orthodontics 16, Aquafix 3
Don’t let the final score mislead you, this was a very competitive game until late. Aquafix jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first after a two-RBI single from Karson S and Huddy Henifin came home on a wild pitch. Karson S also held down Wagner’s powerful offense through four innings, but Wagner eventually got going at the plate.
Mateo Samora went 3-5 with a homerun, 5 RBI’s and two runs, and Brantley Sorensen went 3-3 with a triple and a double. The ten-year old has been tearing the cover off the ball. Wagner scored 11 runs in the top of the sixth inning to put the game out of reach. Wagner pounded out 17 hits total by 9 different players. Kabe Heinzman had three hits, Cam Handy two, Easton Sorensen two, Ian Goble picked up a 2-RBI double, and Von Sisson added an RBI single.
REPORTS WANTED!
If you would like to see your athletes get the recognition they deserve, please email game reports to nicksisson@n2media.tv so we can add it to our weekly report. Also, update your GameChangers rosters (with full names!) and league standings! We’re already working on gathering Longview reports, and we’d love to hear from the far flung burgs on the fringes of The Blast Zone, too.
Be sure to follow N2 Media and look for more reports soon.
About The Author: Nick Sisson is a Kelso graduate and the owner/operator of N2 Media. Sisson is a father and husband who coaches youth basketball and holds strong opinions about 1990’s comedy films.
