For six innings, it looked as though Todd Beamer was going to hand Federal Way their first loss in league play of the season.

For six innings, Brycen Allen had cruised through the Federal Way lineup on the mound.

The seventh inning was an entirely different story, however, as the Eagles exploded for 17 runs and clinched a division title with their 18-3 victory.

“The at-bats in the first six innings, even though we didn’t have anything to show for it, we had a lot of quality at-bats where the pitcher had to work,” said Federal Way head coach Arlo Evasick. “By the time we got to the seventh, we were ready to hit him and I think he just ran out of gas a little bit. He’s one of the better pitchers we’ve faced. We just got to him in the end.”

Allen took a no-hitter through three innings before it was broken up by Dawson Bakker on a single with two outs in the top of the fourth. He gave up just six hits, three walks and struck out five through six innings.

But with the top of the lineup due up for Federal Way in the top of the seventh and Beamer leading 3-1, things spiraled out of control.

Ben Koler walked to start the inning. All-American Christian Jones came to the plate, representing the tying run. Allen tried to work around the strike zone, but it ended with Jones being walked as well.

With no outs, Federal Way was looking to move both its runners into scoring position as Eddie Peraza stepped to the plate. He put down a perfectly executed bunt and loaded the bases instead.

A run was then walked home and a pitching change followed.

“We had complete faith in him going into the seventh,” Beamer head coach Shane Elliott said. “He was cruising through six; no one was touching him. Leadoff walk in the seventh with Jones on deck is always going to be a tough inning to get out of. We were hoping to get the leadoff guy.”

A walk, two hits and four runs later, another pitching change was made. Another walk, three more hits and three more runs led to the final pitching change for the Titans.

Federal Way tallied 11 runs on eight hits, seven walks and one Todd Beamer error before the first out of the inning was recorded on a Calvin Turchin sacrifice fly.

By the end of the inning, Beamer’s 3-1 lead had turned into an 18-3 deficit. The Eagles batted around twice in the inning and three batters saw the plate three times.

JJ Asinas reached third base in the bottom of the inning, but the Titans were unable to put anything on the board.

The Titans originally took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Taylor Davis picked up two RBIs on a single and Jared Thompson picked up another on a single later in the inning.

Federal Way’s first run came in the top of the sixth on an error.

Five Federal Way players had multiple RBIs. Peraza and Mark Wright led the Eagles with three RBIs apiece. Wright was also 3-for-4 on the day.

Kyle Williams picked up the win for Federal Way after relieving Luke Tedrick. Williams gave up one hit, one walk and struck out four batters.

Thompson was 3-for-3 from the plate with an RBI and a double for Beamer.

With the win, Federal Way guaranteed at least an 8-4 record in league play. Beamer, currently 4-4 in league play, is the only team in the league that can match that, but the Eagles now hold the tiebreaker giving them the division title.

“The first goal we set at the first meeting we had was to get to 15 wins,” Evasick said. “Taking first is obviously a product of that, and it feels good, but what we’re trying to do isn’t done. We want to get to 15 wins and then see what happens in the playoffs. These guys are playing well right now, top to bottom.”

The two teams are scheduled to finish their three-game series today at 4 p.m. at Federal Way High School.

“I’m hoping we can get one out of three from the series at least, avoid a sweep, and get some confidence back before our last league series next week,” Elliott said.

Beamer (8-8, 4-4) will face Mount Rainier in a three-game series to finish out the season next week. Their first game is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Tuesday at Mount Rainier High School.

Federal Way (13-2, 8-0) will face Decatur in a three-game series to end their regular season. Their first game is scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at Decatur High School.