It was not the easiest road to make it to the state championship game for Federal Way National Little League’s 9/10 all-star team. But they overcame an extended stay in the loser’s bracket to win it all.
Federal Way National qualified for the state tournament by winning the District 10 championship in June. They went undefeated in that tournament, outscoring their opponents 52-4 in four games. The big wins led to a confident team heading into the state tournament.
The tournament began on July 18 and things started off well for Federal Way National as they defeated Aberdeen Little League 19-5 in four innings.
Their next opponent was the Mercer Island Little League all-stars. Mercer Island also went undefeated in their district tournament, outscoring their opponents 48-10 in five games. They opened the state tournament with a 15-2 win over West Plains.
Things went Mercer Island’s way in the matchup as they beat Federal Way National 13-4. The loss meant that Federal Way would need seven consecutive wins to win the championship. Mercer Island would only need three.
Greater Richland Little League’s all-stars were the first team Federal Way National faced in the loser’s bracket. Federal Way National defeated them in a close 6-4 game.
Against Salmon Creek Little League in their next game, a walk-off hit gave them the 4-3 win to keep their hopes alive.
The next two games saw Federal Way National trail by multiple runs. Down 3-1 in the final inning to Bainbridge Island Little League, the Federal Way National team scored five runs to pull off the 6-3 victory.
Camas Little League jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the first three innings. They batted through the order in the first inning. It wasn’t enough for them. The final 11 runs went to Federal Way National as they won 15-9, eliminating Camas.
The win earned them a semi-final matchup against Walla Walla Valley Little League. Walla Walla Valley had won their first three matchups of the tournament by a score of 36-1 before falling 5-3 to Mercer Island.
Federal Way National earned their second mercy rule victory of the tournament with a 14-3 victory in five innings, earning them a spot in the championship. They still needed two wins over Mercer Island to claim the championship.
The first game saw Federal Way National take the lead and not look back after the second inning. With the game tied 1-1 and runners on first and second after walks, R’Mani Adams brought home both runners and scored himself on a play that resulted in both a hit and an error.
They drove in two more runs in the fourth and ended up winning 6-3, forcing a winner-take-all game on the 26th.
It was another close game for Federal Way National. They scored four runs in the top of the first and Mercer Island responded with three of their own. They tied it at 4-4 in the third inning.
Federal Way National scored another three runs in the fourth inning. Mercer Island matched those three runs in the fifth to tie the game at 7-7.
In the final inning, the Federal Way National bats stayed hot as they added four runs to push their lead to 11-7.
Mercer Island was able to score one run and loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning. All three runners were left stranded as Federal Way National recorded the final out and took home the state championship.
“They refused to believe they would not win,” team bookkeeper Romi Afework wrote in an email. “They stunned us all with their ‘why not us’ attitude. It was especially cool how the beautiful little town of Montesano got behind us and cheered us on.”
The team’s roster included the following players: R’Mani Adams, Isaiah Afework, Braden Bedell, Jack Bergstrom, Matt Blackmon, Brett Ellingson, Aidan Graham, Isaiah Henning, Kayla Johnson, Jayden Lee, Jack Maclaren, Jaiden Orchard and Ricardo Osses-Watson. Danny Graham was the manager and Bill Bedell and Doug Orchard were coaches.
