EATON — The Eaton Little League 10-11 year old boys’ baseball all-star team defeated Washington Courthouse 4-0 on Thursday, July 23, to earn their place as district champions.
“It was a great team performance by everybody,” said head coach Chuck Winnings. “We couldn’t do it without all of them. It takes 13 kids to win and they bought into that. It’s very nice to know that teams win championships.”
The boys jumped out to an early lead, taking a 2-0 lead through two innings. The scored runs via a single RBI in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fourth as well, securing a four run advantage.
Washington Courthouse threatened in the fifth, loading the bases on the Eaton All-Stars, but ace on the mound Brady Davis got out of the jam, striking out the final batter of the inning.
Davis finished his complete game with 75 pitches and a shutout.
The team consisted of Tristan Apking, Dawson Blaylock, Breyden Boston, Brady Davis, Clayton Gregg, Preston James, Jakob Keller, Henry Kochensparger, Josh Martin, Christian Reyna, Ryota Sato, Matt Toller, and Theo Winings.
“I’m very proud to be their coach. We’ve come a long way the past three weeks from where we started as a team and actually growing as a team. It feels great,” said Winnings.
The team moves on to the state tournament in Ashtabula starting on August 1.
“We are going to see some great competition and we’re going to have to elevate our play, but I like our chances. We have a good group,” said Winnings.
