Aggressive, and continually attacking Auburn won the District 10 Little League Majors (11-12 year-old) All-Star baseball tournament with an 8-3 championship round victory against Steel Lake at Sunset Park to complete an unbeaten run and make a provisional second game unnecessary.

Auburn moves on to an 11:30 a.m. state match up against District 7 champion South Highline National on July 24 at Smith-Murrey Park in Elma. The tournament is hosted by District 3 East Grays Harbor Little League.

"The guys played well in the tournament," said SL manager Ken Allen. "We just didn't hit the ball real well and went through a lot of pitchers to try to keep Auburn off balance."

Swinging its bats with a powerful purpose from the outset, Auburn hammered away for three runs on five hits in the top of the first inning.

Launching its own lightning strikes, Steel Lake opened the home half of the first inning with a walk to Michael Ziccarelli. After Ziccarelli moved up to second base on a wild pitch, Matthew Roybal singled to set up runners on first and third. Two consecutive wild pitches led to a run and a runner on third base. Jaret Wick walked to hasten in a new Auburn pitcher.

Relief pitcher Isaiah Hatch was greeted by Christian Jones, who chopped a run-scoring single through the middle, drawing Steel Lake within 3-2.

Following this single, fireballing right hander Hatch with the quick delivery to the plate dazzled SL batters with a lights out performance, retiring 18 out of the next 19 Lake batters. His only mistake was a home run pitch that Ziccarelli smoked over the left field fence for a solo home run in the fifth inning.

Auburn added two runs in the fourth, a single run in the fifth and a pair of runs in the sixth to close out the scoring.

Hatch finished his six full relief innings with a two-hitter and 12 strikeouts, including stretches where he struck out five batters in a row and four batters in sequence.

"This was a tournament where we didn't hit real well," said Ziccarelli. "Our defense was the big part of our success. I was looking for fastballs, but the ball I hit for the home run was a low curve. The pitcher was tough because every pitch he threw had movement, not just straight."

Steel Lake began the tournament with wins against South Hill and Kent before dropping a verdict to Auburn. A Wednesday defeat of Bonney Lake/Sumner in a loser-out round final sent the Lake into the rematch against Auburn.

Team members are Jalen Prather, Tyson Sonnenfeld, Ethan Phelps, Jaret Wick, Mason De La Cruz, Gabe Togia, Alex Sonnenfeld, Garrett San Luis, Matthew Roybal, Christian Jones, James Fitch, Brycen Allen and Michael Ziccarelli.

SL's coaching staff includes manager Ken Allen with coaches Joey Sonnenfeld and Nate Bowman.

As part of the evening's final presentations, retiring District 10 board member Leigh Ann Holm was honored for her 18 years of exemplary volunteer work in several capacities, including her current duties as secretary.