Herald staff
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — The Mill Creek All-Stars came to California ready to play.
Saturday night they let the Anchorage, Alaska All-Stars know it.
Dan Kingma hit a solo home run, Joakim Soderquist hit a two-run home run and Mill Creek dismantled Anchorage 20-1 in four innings Saturday night in the opening round of the Northwest Regional baseball tournament in San Bernardino, Calif.
“(Everyone) had a great game tonight,” Mill Creek coach Scott Mahlum said.
Mill Creek improved to 1-0 in the regional. They play the Billings, Mont., All-Stars (1-0) at 2 p.m. today. The other Northwest Regional teams are Laramie, Wyo., Boise, Idaho, and Beaverton, Ore. The top four teams will advance to the semifinals, which are Thursday. The championship game is Aug. 9.
The biggest challenge Mill Creek faced Saturday was surviving the 104-degree weather earlier in the afternoon. But Mill Creek showed no signs of exhaustion, scoring six runs in the first inning to take control and added five more runs in the second before Anchorage scored their lone run in the third inning.
Jason Todd started on the mound for Mill Creek and struck out four batters to pick up the win. Derrick Mahlum and Alec Kisena combined to provide solid relief, striking out an additional four batters. More importantly, all three pitchers stayed under 20 pitches for the game, meaning they will be eligible for today’s game against Billings.
“If we stay focused, healthy, hydrated, eat our meals and keep (the kids) out of the sun as much as possible, we should be in good shape,” Mahlum said.
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