Mercer Island's Little League All-star team, already Washington state champions, beat the Oregon state champions from Parrish Little League of Salem, Oregon, by a score of 8-3 in a game televised nationwide on ESPN, to win the NW Regional Little League championship, and advance to the Little League World Series, Aug. 21-30 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.  Mercer Island will play the Mid-Atlantic region champions (either New York or New Jersey) in the first game of the tournament, on Friday, Aug. 21, at 10am PDT.

In the championship game, after a surprisingly easy run through pool play and the semi-finals, with 5 straight victories in games shortened by the 10-run "mercy rule", Mercer Island quickly found themselves in territory unfamiliar since the Washington state tournament:  trailing 3-0 after the half-first inning.  Fielding errors on the first two batters, followed by a catcher interference call on the third loaded the bases for Oregon with no outs in the first.  A passed ball allowed one run to score and the other runners to advance to 2nd and 3rd.  Then the Oregon cleanup batter hit a deep fly ball to right field that initially looked like it might be a home run, but a stiff breeze kept it in the park for a sacrifice fly - but the throw home was off line, Mercer Island's 4th error in the inning, allowing both runners to score before two strikeouts by pitcher William Mansfield ended the inning. 

The bottom of the 1st appeared to get off to a great start, when Josh Stenberg led off with a double off the right field wall, but Stenberg missed the base when rounding first and was called out on appeal.  The Islanders buckled down at that point, however, and started clawing their way back.  Anthony Scalzo ripped a single to center field.  William Mansfield followed with another single up the middle, and both runners advanced on an error by Oregon's center fielder.  Then with two outs, Brandon Lawler ripped a clutch single to right field, scoring both Scalzo and Mansfield, and then scored himself on another clutch hit by Max Hibbert to tie the game at 3-3 at the end of the first inning. 

Solid pitching by Oregon starter Alex Alvarado kept the Islanders scoreless in the 2nd and 3rd, but patience at the plate - highlighted by David Emanuels' 13-pitch at-bat in the 2nd - gradually ate away at Alverado's 85-pitch limit.  Then, in the bottom of the 4th, Michael Bantle led off with a single, and reached 2nd on a nice bunt by Aidan Plummer, and then scored on a clutch two out single by Josh Stenberg to put the Islanders up 4-3. 

William Mansfield, pitching for the Islanders on his 13th birthday, was once again dominating for the Islanders, allowing just 4 base hits, scattering one each in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th innings - while striking out 11 in 5 complete innings and allowing 3 runs, all unearned.  Mansfield's final strikeout, on his 86th pitch in the top of the 5th, stranded the would-be tying and go-ahead runs on 2nd and 3rd for Oregon. 

In the bottom of the 5th, Mansfield led off with a walk as Alvarado reached his pitch limit and had to be releived.  Brandon Lawler and Keegan Ogard also walked, and advanced on a wild pitch that scored Mansfield from 3rd.  Max Hibbert then lined to right field for his 2nd hit of the game, scoring Ogard for a 6-3 lead.  Michael Bantle singled for his 2nd hit, and then Aidan Plummer hit a sacrifice fly deep to right field, scoring Lawler and advancing Hibbert to 3rd.  David Emanuels walked to load the bases, and then another walk by Josh Stenberg scored Hibbert to put Washington up 8-3. 

Brandon Lawler relieved Mansfield in the top of the 6th, and needed just 14 pitches to seal the win for Washington, on two strikeouts and a groundout fielded by Max Hibbert at first base for the final out.

For the game, Max Hibbert and Michael Bantle were both 2/3 with a run scored, Hibbert with a double and 2 RBI.  Brandon Lawle was 1/2 with 2 RBI and scored twice himself.  Josh Stenberg was 1/2, walked twice and batted in 2 runs.  Anthony Scalzo was 1/3 with a run scored.  Aidan Plummer contributed a sacrifice bunt and batted in a run with a sacrifice fly.  

Through 15 games at District, State and Regionals, Sam Pugel, William Mansfield and Max Hibbert paced the Islanders at the plate, with batting averages of .625, .489 and .462 respectively.  Mansfield and Brandon Lawler lead with 6 home runs apiece, and have batted in 24 and 27 runs, respectively.  Mansfield is the team's leading slugger, with a .978 slugging percentage, followed by Lawler at .930 and Hibbert at .897.  The team's pitchers have allowed just 15 earned runs in 15 games, for an ERA of just 1.15.  Out of 141 total strikeouts, Mansfield leads with 73 strikeouts in his 34 innings pitched. 

More Regional Championship photos from David Ogard

Michael Bantle's single in the bottom of the 7th inning to score Aidan Plummer for the winning run capped the 3rd come-from-behind-win in a row to power Mercer Island's 11-12 All-stars to the Washington State Little League Baseball championship and a berth in the Northwest Regional tournament in San Bernardino, CA, Aug. 7-15, for a chance to play in the 2009 Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA.

L-R:  Manager Steve Stenberg, David Emanuels, Brandon Lawler, Keegan Ogard, Josh Stenberg, Max Hibbert, William Mansfield, Michael Bantle, Nick Taylor, Coach Brock Mansfield, Anthony Scalzo, Aidan Plummer, Assistant Coach Anne Emanuels, and Sam Pugel.

Keegan Ogard pitched 4-2/3s scoreless innings, striking out 8, while matching Pasco's ace pitch-for-pitch, before hitting his 85-pitch limit with 2 outs in the top of the 5th inning, before Pasco singled in 2 unearned runs to take a 2-0 lead.  But in the bottom of the 6th, Ogard tied it with a huge 2-run Home Run to give Mercer Island new life:

The combined Thunderbird/MI Majors Softball All-stars defeated the All-stars from Northeast/Northwest Seattle LL, champions of District 8, Thursday night, 14-3 in 4 innings, to successfully defend their 10-11 state title from last year.

The team now will represent Washington state in the Western Regional Tournament, which begins August 1 in Vancouver, WA.  The team's first game in pool play will be August 2nd at 3:30pm at Fort Vancouver Field in Vancouver agains the state champions from Montana (full tournament bracket).  Pool play will last for several days then seeding will determine who plays for a chance to go to the Little League World Series next month in Portland, OR.  For more information information regarding the West Regional Tournament, see http://www.wad4llb.org/?page_id=22.

The Bellevue Thunderbird / Mercer Island / Bellevue West combined Majors Little League Softball All-star Team (the "TMin MInts", as the team is affectionately known), have gone 8-1 since beginning their All-Star journey.  The team's sole loss was a 1-0 defeat at the hands of eventual District 9 runner-up Fall City.  Pitching, defense and timely hitting are always important in tournament play and such was the case for the state champs.  Led by starters Kaitlin Sahlinger and Kathryn Wood, the Thin Mints played near perfect defense to shut down powerful hitting teams from Stilly Valley and Sedro Wooley on their way to the championship.   

Mercer Island residents Julia Blumenstein and Claire McCarthy were standouts throughout the two tournaments, including the final game as Blumenstein went 1 for 1 with two runs scored and an RBI, while McCarthy went 1 for 2 with a double and 3 RBI.  Sarah Yamaura, representing the Bellevue West LL while playing for the MILL during the regular season, was the team's most consistent and prolific hitter and notched a perfect 1-2-3 6th inning to save the semi-final game.  The team is coached by Islander Pat McCarthy.

Congratulations girls and coach Pat!