Three innings of terror torpedoed Steel Lake out of the District 10 Little League baseball 9-10 age All Star tournament on Monday, June 14.

Firing salvo after salvo at the Federal Way National Complex, the Auburn All Stars sunk Steel Lake, 24-10, in a loser-out game.

After Auburn opened its outer doors to strike seven hits for eight runs in the top of the second inning, Steel Lake scored hits of its own in the home half of the inning. Michael Woods singled with two outs and promptly reached second on a wild pitch. Then, Darnel Calugay singled to left field where the outfielder bobbled the ball, enabling a Steel Lake run to be posted.

Steel Lake drew closer with one shining inning in the third. With one out, Jake Jex ripped a double to left field. Jex advanced to third base on a ground out to first base. On a wild pitch, Jex reached home before Brayden Teder drew a base on balls. A single sent home another run ahead of a walk and Calugay's 2-run double.

Just when Steel Lake rejoined the battle, Auburn drew away from an 8-5 lead with seven runs on only three hits in the fourth as walks and errors played significant roles in the shelling that enlarged the dominance to 15-5.

Steel Lake replied with two runs on three hits to trail 15-7 after four complete innings.
In the top of the fifth, Auburn fired one more destructive salvo to score nine runs. After Jex's run-scoring triple keyed a three-run Steel Lake fifth inning, the game ended on the 10-run mercy rule.

Jex led the Steel Lake offense by batting 2-for-3 with a double, triple and RBI while Calugay was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI.

Steel Lake opened the tournament with a loss at the hands of Bonney Lake/Sumner before eliminating Federal Way American.