Ottawa American 11s stay hot, roll past Streator for District 20 championship

SPRING VALLEY – One would be hard-pressed to find a hotter team around than the Ottawa American 11-Year-Old All-Stars have been the past five days at the District 20 Tournament hosted by Spring Valley.

Or a hitter on a more torrid streak than Henry Farabaugh.

In consecutive victories, including Sunday afternoon’s 11-1, championship game triumph over Streator, Ottawa American posted 42 runs on 38 hits while allowing only seven runs.

Farabaugh, who led the title-game attack at the plate by going 3 for 4 with five RBIs, including a walk-off single in the fourth, ended the trio of contests 9 for 11 with 12 RBIs.

Ottawa American advances to next weekend’s District 5 Moline Riverside Sub-State Tournament.

“This team has been amazing offensively,” Ottawa American manager Matt Willet said. “Every kid, 1-13, puts the bat on the ball and has contributed to each win. They are great kids who root for each other to do well. Many of them have been playing on the all-stars together for a few years now, and they just know how to battle for one another.

“As well as we have hit, out pitching staff is just as good. We have five kids that could start any game, no matter how big. Bradyn [Hermann] came in today – we’d been saving him for this moment – and was really, really good.”

Hermann (4 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 7 K) fanned the final batter of the first inning after Streator’s Kellen Gassman had singled and moved to third on an error.

Ottawa American then exploded for seven runs in its half of the inning, starting with leadoff hitter Farabaugh reaching on an error and scoring on a double to left-center by Sully McConnaughhay. After an out, Baron Hellman plated McConnaughhay with a base hit, and Hellman stole second and scored on a groundout by Trace Wesbecker to make it 3-0.

The next seven batters – Hermann (single), Bodie Martin (double, RBI), Mason Mucci (walk), J.C. Armstrong (walk), Fararbaugh (single, two RBIs), McConnaughhay (single) and Bryce Ceja (walk, RBI) – all reached base.

Hermann recorded all three outs in the second via strikeout around a base hit by Paxon Thorpe.

The champs added three runs in their half. Wesbecker led off with a walk and moved to third an out later on a single by Landry DeBernardi. Then with two outs, Jude Willett smacked an RBI single ahead of Farabaugh’s second two-run single of the game.

“The reality is that they can hit well, they have good pitching and are solid on defense,” said Streator manager Beau Boyles, who used Tyler Park and Rocco Van Duzer on the mound. “I told our kids before the game that the team that makes the most mistakes is going to be in trouble. We had a couple balls go through our legs, and it’s two runs here and three runs there. We knew they were going to put the ball in play, but five-out innings will kill you.

“We had great energy to start the game, but a seven-run inning will deflate things quick on you.”

Streator scored its only run of the game in the third as Van Duzer led off with a line-drive double down the left-field line and scored two batters later on a fielder’s choice groundout by Gassman.

Ottawa American closed out the game in the fourth. Martin reached on a one-out error, moved to second on a base hit by Mucci and scored on Farabaugh’s two-out hit down the right-field line to end the game.

“Being able to get the last hit to drive in the winning run was exciting,” Farabaugh said. “I’ve been hitting the ball well, and so has everyone else on the team. I pitched against some of the guys on this team during city league. They’re good, so I’m glad they are on my side now.”