Woodinville U-13 team wins tourney opener

02 Jul 2012 06:35
Written by Don Mann

Staff Photo/Don Mann Woodinville’s Mack Minnehan pitched two strong innings on the hill, and went 3-for-3 at the plate.

Staff Photo/Don Mann. Joey Wick, bottom, scorched a line drive off the left field fence but had to hustle back to first base for a long single.

It was no Rembrandt as they issued nine bases on balls overall, but the Woodinville Baseball Club’s 13-and-under Sandy Koufax team ultimately put away Magnolia 11-5 in its opening game of Kirkland’s Firecracker Tournament at Kirkland Junior High on Friday.

The Seattle boys doled out some bad-looking charity of its own: seven walks and five critical errors as the young Falcons took an 8-2 lead after three innings and led 10-2 after four-and-a-half frames with three outs to get, looking to invoke the young division’s eight-run rule to make it a short day and save some arms for the rest of the three-day annual tournament.

But it didn’t happen the way longtime Woodinville youth coach Marty Wick was hoping.

A leadoff walk by his second pitcher was followed by an infield tweener for a hit and then another free pass, followed by a fielder’s choice and a solid single to extend the contest and require Wick to go to pitcher No. 3.

Bryce Coyne, the designated hitter, came on to close the deal, retiring six of the eight batters he faced, as Woodinville ran its record to an impressive 35-17 overall on the season with the big boy games still to come.

Mack Minnehan had himself a day, going 3-for-3 with a double and three RBI. He also stole three bases, easy money.

The starting pitcher went two solid innings on the bump before switching places with battery-mate Alex Owens.

Nine of 10 Woodinville batters scored runs, as Magnolia kicked it around and the green team gained extra bases all day, notching 11 runs on only six base hits.

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