The Houlton 11-12-year-old all-stars picked up a lopsided victory over Katahdin Valley in the first round of the District 3 All-star Little League Tournament.
The Houlton all-stars shut out Katahdin Valley, 15-0 in four innings at the Savings Bank of Maine field in Houlton last Tuesday.
The Houlton all-stars had 10 different players recorded at least one hit in the offensive blitz.
Houlton, by virtue of the coin toss, was the visiting team and threatened to score in the top of the first. But, Katahdin Valley’s catcher Jacob McAvoy pounced on a wild pitch, tossed to pitcher Tyson Porter, who tagged out the speedy Garrett Putnam, to end the inning on a close play at the plate.
After a 1-2-3 bottom of the first, Houlton jumped on KVLL for seven runs in the second. After a lead-off double by Nick Cowperthwaite, Ben Boutilier singled to bring in Cowperthwaite. After the next two batters reached, Garrett Ring hit a two-run RBI-single, pushing the lead to 4-0. A walk and two errors, along with an RBI-groundout by Cowperthwaite found Houlton ahead 7-0.
In the bottom of the second, Ryan Dee shut the door on the KVLL hitters, striking out all three batters.
In the top of the third, Houlton’s first two batters reached by errors. With one out, Ben Tuttle, Putnam, Dee and Payton Porter hit consecutive singles. Putnam and Dee picked up two RBIs apiece, with Porter adding an RBI.
After a great catch by Katahdin Valley’s Dillon Cahill in center to rob Cowperthwaite of a hit, Tyler Brown stepped to the plate and blasted a two-run home run over the center field fence to cap the scoring at 15-0. Parker Brewer added a double in the inning, but was stranded at third.
Dee and Tuttle combined on a one-hitter, with 11 strikeouts.
Katahdin Valley’s lone hit was a single by McAvoy in the bottom of the third.
The Houlton Area Little League 11-12-year-old all-stars, sponsored by Houlton Water Company, were in action again on July 6, as they played Hermon.