MILL CREEK
Jason Todd made sure that he would be the first to punch Mill Creek’s ticket to San Bernadino, Calif.
Todd pitched a one-hit shutout and belted two home runs as the Mill Creek All-Stars beat Richmond 10-0 in four innings to win the majors level state Little League tournament on July 27.
Mill Creek coach Scott Mahlum laughed when asked about Todd’s performance.
“It’s what he does all the time,” Mahlum said. “He actually started slow and gave a lot of pitches in the first, but he got dialed in.”
This was the second tournament meeting between the two teams. Mill Creek routed Richmond, a team from the Shoreline area, 16-1 on July 20. Richmond then went on a five-game winning streak through the loser’s bracket to reach the championship and a rematch.
“We didn’t really change our strategy, but I told them we couldn’t be overconfident,” Mahlum said. “I mean, these guys worked really hard to get here, so we couldn’t think that.”
Todd had a no-hitter going into the fourth inning, but lost it on a one-out single by Richmond pitcher Corey Longaker. Richmond had just three baserunners for the game, the other two reaching on throwing errors.
“I wasn’t thinking about going for a no-hitter,” said Todd, who also struck out 10 of the 15 he faced and walked none. “I just hoped to keep (the ball) in play and let the defense work the game.”
Mill Creek’s offense got things started early and often. Second baseman Dan Kingma opened the game with a single off of Richmond starter Josh Hawkinson and scored on a triple by shortstop Derrick Mahlum.
Three pitches later, Todd hit his first home run, a blast to dead center field, and Mill Creek had a 3-0 lead. Third baseman Joakim Soderqvist added an infield single in the inning.
Richmond got its leadoff batter on base in the bottom of the first after a Mill Creek throwing error, but the Shoreline-area team’s next baserunner didn’t come until the fourth, again on a throwing error.
Mill Creek made it 8-0 in the third inning. Derrick Mahlum led off with a single, then Hawkinson loaded the bases on back-to-back walks to Todd and Soderqvist.
After the Richmond coach visited the mound to talk to his pitcher, Todd and Mahlum scored on the next pitch that resulted in a passed ball and wild throw to first. While Todd and Mahlum were scoring, Soderqvist headed to third base.
Alex Jondal’s sacrifice fly scored Soderqvist. After Jake Black doubled, Daniel Jang hit the second pitch he saw over the right field wall for his first home run of the tournament.
“I just hoped it went over the fence,” Jang said. “My first home run in the All-Stars; all I could think is ‘yeah.’”
Hawkinson was done on the mound after three innings. He allowed eight runs (six of them earned), walked two batters and struck out one. Longaker came on in relief in the fourth inning and gave up back-to-back solo home runs to Derrick Mahlum and Todd.
Richmond got two runners in the bottom of the fourth before Todd struck out the side to end the game early because of the 10-run rule.
Despite the loss, Richmond head coach Gary Kocher was all smiles for his team.
“I’m proud of this team’s run,” Kocher said. “These guys played really well. It was really tricky to keep them ready through that (loser’s) bracket.”
Added Richmond coach Ted Rattray: “We did nothing wrong, the guys made some great plays. Then we got here and came up against some of the finest pitchers and finest hitters around. We’re happy for Mill Creek; they’re a monster team to face.”
After the game, Mill Creek coach Scott Mahlum made his strategy clear for his team’s upcoming play in the regional tournament.
“We’re going with the same approach,” he said. “We’re here to win and have fun; we’re not playing for a short trip.”
The team, of course, is aiming for the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
“I just want to see us on ESPN,” Derrick Mahlum said.
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