SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — The only thing better than the power coming off of Mason Hill’s bat is his impeccable sense of timing.
Hill homered twice Sunday and pushed Cascade Little League through a sluggish start, as the Vancouver team won its Northwest Regional opener, 5-0, over West Valley Little League of Eagle, Idaho, at Al Houghton Stadium.
Cascade (11-0), which arrived in Southern California having outscored opponents 58-18 in 10 postseason victories, instead relied on strong pitching, good defense and Hill’s bat, which produced a two-run, center field home run in the first inning and solo shot to left to lead off the bottom of the fourth.
“Mason came up large for us,” said Cascade manager Mark Hodory, whose team made the most of six hits. “Those were two big hits when we needed them the most.”
Asked if he had ever had a game quite like this, Hill had a soft-spoken answer for his big-time theatrics.
“No,” he said. “I just showed up today.”
So did starting pitcher Carter Monda, who struck out six and walked one in five innings of one-hit ball, as the batting order for Idaho (4-2) couldn’t find a groove.
West Valley’s only hit came from No. 3 hitter Cannon Morgan, who singled up the middle to lead off the fourth inning.
“I think that’s as good of pitching as we’re going to see in the tournament,” Idaho coach Tony Hilde said of Monda. “The kid throws hard, and we didn’t string hits together.”
Cascade advanced to play Boulder-Arrowhead Little League of Billings, Mont., in the second round at 7 p.m. Monday.
This year marks a change in format, as the regional tournament went from a pool play to double-elimination bracket play.
“We’re able to play really good defense, and it showed today,” Hodory said. “I don’t think our hitting was quite what we’re used to as a team. Our pitching definitely usually can get us through a lot of jams, but today, it was our defense.”
Hill finished 2-for-3 with three RBI. Cascade’s other two runs came on some nifty execution in the fifth.
With one out, Monda executed a hit-and-run on a right-field single, advancing courtesy runner Jake Bowen to third. On the next batter, Russell Fearington hit a grounder bobbled by the Idaho shortstop. Bowen was already scoring from third; an ensuing throwing error allowed Monda to score, as well.
“We work hard on being aggressive on the bases,” Hodory said.
