Douglas 15-and-under coach Bill Whalin didn't mind losing one game during pool play at the United States Amateur Baseball Association World Series. In fact, he wanted to.
"We actually had a plan that would put us where we are," said Whalin, whose team lost 10-2 to Kailua last Saturday night. "I know it's kind of hard to imagine, but we like where we are. We wanted to open the first round of the tournament with a team we've done well against and we wanted our second game to be on our home field."
Whalin's confession came after a 9-0 win over the Carson Crushers on Tuesday night at James Lee Regional Park in Indian Hills. The win gave the Tigers the No. 3 seed going into the double elimination tournament that starts Thursday. Douglas will play Sonora, which it beat 10-4 on Monday, at James Lee Park at 7 p.m. Win or lose and its next game is Friday at Douglas High School. Whalin doesn't expect to lose.
"Everything has kind of worked out for us," Whalin said. "At the beginning of the tournament, guys were on vacation and stuff. But we wanted to get the whole team together for the elimination tournament."
The Tigers made quick work of Carson. They scored six runs in the top of the first, then relied on the arm of starter Chad Walling, which was a good idea. Walling pitched five innings and only allowed two hits, both of them coming in the bottom of the fifth. The game was called after that because of the eight-run mercy rule. Walling also led Douglas offensively by going 3-for-4.
"We dug ourselves too big of a hole at the start," said Carson assistant coach Steve Smallman. "We have the ability to come back and we've done it a lot this summer. We just didn't do it today."
The Crushers, who beat Sonora 11-1 earlier on Tuesday, will be the No. 8 seed in the tournament. They will play No. 9 Vacaville, which went winless in pool play, at 11 a.m. at James Lee Park. Douglas, which went 4-1 in pool play, recorded 11 hits of Carson pitching. Jeff Young went 2-for-3 and Nate Whalin was 2-for-2, and his two-run homer in the second allowed the Tigers to win by the mercy rule.
"We aren't too surprised by this game," Whalin said. "Our guys really wanted to come out hard."
Tri-County won all five of its pool play games and will go into the tournament as the top seed. Langley will be the No. 2 seed, Twin City the No. 4 seed, Kailua the No. 5 seed, Sonora the No. 6 seed, and Northwest the No. 7 seed.
CARSON 11, SONORA 1
Bryt Lewis and Nick Smallman both went 2-for-2 with three runs scored in the five-inning win Tuesday morning. Jack Jacquet was 2-for-3 with two doubles and Logan Parsley went the distance in the complete game victory on the mound.
Jeremiah Teeter went 1-for-3 with two runs scored.
