Del Norte All-Stars claim another District 8 championship

The Del Norte Little League 12U All-Stars are heading back to the Oregon State tournament after another big performance at the recent District 8 tournament.

The young Del Norte players capped a dominating run through the tournament with an 11-1 win over Central Point in the championship round on June 17.

And that set up a third straight trip to the state tournament for many of these players, who also qualified two years as 10-year-olds and last year as 11s.

The state tournament will be held in Portland and begins on July 18.

“This group, they’ve been working really, really hard and they all had great seasons during league,” manager Tyler Bachmann said. “And they’re just super excited to see how far we can go in state.”

So far this postseason, the Del Norte All-Stars have comfortably taken care of business, winning all three of their games in the District 8 Tournament.

They opened tournament play with a 15-2 win over Brookings-Harbor and followed that with a 14-7 win over Central Point the following day to reach the championship round.

Central Point would battle back through the loser’s bracket and earn a rematch, but the Del Norte All-Stars would not be denied and capped a perfect run through tournament with a third victory, this one in just four innings on the 10-run rule.

Several players stepped up on the way to the championship, including Tyler Ellison and Teagan Good, who led the way on the mound and got plenty of support from their defense.

Catcher Manual Contreras also had a big tournament and set the tone on the defensive side of the ball from behind the plate.

Middle infielders Chase Bachmann and Lio Ramirez also had big tournaments for Del Norte, as did center fielder Louis Moorehead.

Right fielder Carson Hood also impressed in tournament play and “made some huge defensive plays,” according to Tyler Bachmann.

The Del Norte bats also came to play and racked up an impressive 37 base hits over the three games, two of which ended on the 10-run rule.

Chase Bachmann led the way at the plate and batted .1000 for the tournament, including five doubles.

The young standout combined with Ramirez, Good and Contreras to go 24-for-30 at the plate.

“They hit the ball extremely hard,” Tyler Bachmann said of his players. “And we had some good pitching and some good defense.

“Defensively, pretty much all of our outfield played great, and our middle infield played great.”

Four of the team’s pitchers — Ellison, Moorehead, Jase Price-Lewis and Good — featured on the mound in game one.

Ellison got the start in game two, with Good taking over in relief.

According to the manager, Good pitched “lights out” and finished with eight strikeouts.

With a low pitch count through the opening two games, Ellison pitched again in the championship game, throwing a one-hit complete game with just 54 pitches.

“He was dialed in and hitting all the spots that were called,” Tyler Bachmann said.

Jay Land, Ryker Duncan, Mason Lindsay and Charles Mavis each also made some big contributions on the way to the championship.

Steve Bachmann and Casey Duncan are the assistant coaches on the team.

The young players will carry plenty of confidence into the state tournament after strong performances there the past two summers.

Two years ago, as 10-year-olds, they placed third in the state tournament, and last year as 11s they placed fourth.

“It will be exciting to see how far they can go this year,” Tyler Bachmann said.