In the history of the Snoqualmie Valley Little League, the Majors All Stars, consisting of 11 and 12-year-old players, have never made the state majors tournament. Last Saturday the SVLL Majors All Stars took the field for the first time in the state tournament at Sunset Park in Auburn and brought home their first ever state tournament win.
Pitching and defense were key in this one as Snoqualmie Valley downed the All-Stars from Walla Walla Valley Little League, the District 5 champions from Eastern Washington, 2-1 in a game that could have easily gone the other way.
Pitcher Andrew Dunklee was tough on the mound, striking out nine Walla Walla hitters, but his defense came up big, as well, and Snoqualmie Valley overcame three straight innings of Walla Walla offensive threats.
“The defense just did a great job and my catcher, Braden Wolgamott, did a great job blocking balls, and just keeping them in front,” Dunklee said.
Snoqualmie Valley was first on the scoreboard. With one out, Wolgamott reached on an error, then Max Brown singled. Rob Lane walked to load the bases. Dustin Breshears then walked to score Taylor Mitchell, who had come in to pinch run for Wolgamott. Next, Matt Bankston reached on an error to score Brown and it was 2-0. Jeffrey Cragin and Cooper Helm then each struck out, ending the inning was over.
The fun had only just begun. After giving up a run to Walla Walla in the bottom of the third with two out on a Walla Walla single, Dunklee got out of further trouble by a forceout at second base.
Things then really got interesting. As Snoqualmie Valley manager Greg Taylor put it, the bottom of the fourth for his team defensively was, “certainly the key inning, without a doubt.” Walla Walla loaded the bases with no one out, but the Snoqualmie Valley defense bucked down and went to work. First was a groundball to first base, which the first baseman threw to home plate. Catcher Wolgamott waited for the runner from third, and got the inning’s first out on him. The bases remained loaded as all the runners advanced. Then came another ground ball, this time to third base where third baseman Bankston picked the ball up and threw to home plate where again Wolgamott got the runner coming from third for the second out. Walla Walla kept the bases loaded with two outs but Dunklee struck out the next hitter for out number three. The Snoqualmie Valley parents and fans roared in approval at the defense that got the team out of a pinch. Taylor talked about his pitcher, and his defense, after the game.
“He’s [Dunklee] performed for us all year long, a great pitcher. We bend a little bit every once in a while, but we’re not breaking. Like you said, the defense, that’s what wins games,” Taylor said.
Walla Walla threatened again in the fifth after a single, then there was a throwing error on a double-play ball by the Snoqualmie Valley shortstop. With one out, Dunklee again stood up to the challenge, inducing a ground ball to first base and a fly out to right field to close the inning.
Taylor praised the efforts of the Little League.
“SVLL’s done a great job of bringing in the right kind of people to train coaches, and to train the players and camps. [They] brought people in from Indiana to do that, so Little League is just doing a fantastic job of setting up for many future years to come [of] great baseball players,” Taylor said.
SVLL comes out strong against South Highline National
On Sunday, SVLL defeated South Highline National 13-2 to move into their game on Monday. Trevor Taylor pitched a complete game, notching four strike-outs. Offensively, the team came alive with Jeff Gragin going 2-for-3, including a home run and adding three RBIs. Dunklee had a home run and two RBIs, Tim Proudfoot went 2-for-4 and had a home run and two RBIs, Braden Wolgamott went 2-for-3, Cooper Helm went 2-for-2 with a home run and two RBIs, Dustin Breshears had a triple and Trevor Taylor had a home run and an RBI.
On the field, Rob Lane made several great plays including picking off a runner at first base with a throw from right field and making a diving catch to save a run.
Should Snoqualmie Valley win the state championship, with that game scheduled for this Saturday in Auburn, they would advance to the Northwest Regional tournament in San Bernardino, California, with a chance to go all the way to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn., in August.
