Though the two Twin Cities squads took different paths to get there, I-5 Toyota Mountain Dew and I-5 Jeep Renegades will meet in the annual Brian Cox Memorial Tournament semifinals Sunday at Ed Wheeler Field in Centralia.
The two American Legion baseball teams played in separate pools, with Toyota Mountain Dew taking home the first seed and finishing undefeated in the Centralia pool, while the Renegades dropped one game and finished as the second seed in the Chehalis pool.
Mountain Dew’s first game on Friday against Wollochet Baseball of Gig Harbor was as close as you can get, with Mountain Dew taking home a 3-1 victory thanks to strong pitching from Brady Sprague. The Centralia kid pitched a complete game, allowing just three hits with two strikeouts, three walks, and one earned run.
More importantly, Mountain Dew had zero errors.
The squad doubled down with a doubleheader sweep of Capital and R.A. Long on Saturday. Mountain Dew crushed Capital 22-5, and stayed hot against R.A. Long with a 10-6 win. Conner Holmes scored six runs across both games Saturday.
Meanwhile, at Bearcat Stadium in Chehalis, the Renegades picked up a win on Friday against Tenino, 12-1, in five innings, before splitting matchups on Saturday to make the semis as the road team in Centralia.
On Friday, Danner Hoinowski, Miles Martin, and Alex Stafford combined to allow just one hit and earned run on the mound against the Trappers. Cal Bullock, Weston Potter, Martin, and Brooks Ledgerwood all had two RBIs a piece.
The two teams will meet Sunday at Wheeler Field at 12:30 p.m., with the winner moving on to the championship game at 3 p.m. at Bearcat Stadium.
