The third seed Warren Panthers won the Medomak Valley Little League baseball championship with a 6-4 win over second seed Wildcats. Relief pitcher Jariden Fullerton shut the Wildcats down over the final four innings to earn the win.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, highlighted by a solo home run to Oliver Simmons and a RBI double from AJ Simmons. Warren came back with two runs in the home half of the first. The Wildcats plated a run in the second on singles to Mitchell Collins and Morgan Carlson to take a 4-2 lead. The Panthers rallied for three runs in the third on two errors, two walks and passed balls and to take the lead for good. They added an insurance run in the fifth when Sol Smith singled and scored on a passed ball.
Hitting for Warren were Reed Kavanaugh, Fullerton, Dylan Anderson, Taylor Wiley and Smith with a single each. Hitting for the Wildcats were O. Simmons with a homerun, AJ Simmons a double, and Mitchell Collins and Morgan Carlson with a single each.
The Warren Panthers won the 2023 Medomak Valley Little League championship. Team members are (front from left) Sol Smith, Riley Nelson, Abel Thibodeau, Reed Kavanaugh, Warren Fallon, Owen Campbell, Robert Hastings, (back) coach, Taylor Wiley, Luke Rimar, Jariden Fullerton, Sebastian Mank, Dylan Anderson and coach. (Paula Roberts photo)
Roberts Hastings dives back to first safe, as Wildcat Bradley Carlson tries to catch an errant throw. (Paula Roberts photo)
