Richmond Major’s All Stars kick off District Tournament with fireworks show

Richmond Major's All Star Team

By Susan Riley

The Richmond Major’s All Star team kicked off the 2011 District 8 tournament with an offensive fireworks show. Richmond collected 20 hits, including 4 home runs, en route to a 22-1 rout of the RUG (Roosevelt University Greenlake) All Stars.

Richmond scored 11 runs in the first inning after sending 15 hitters to the plate. Richmond turned to the long ball in the last two innings, with Daniel McAbee starting the home run parade in the third, while Keegan Riley and Jake Fredrickson hit back-to-back homers two batters later. TJ Hundhausen also homered for Richmond.

Keegan Riley hits a homer

Keegan Riley hit the first of back-to-back home runs in the 3rd inning of Richmond’s 22-1 rout.

“The boys held a players-only meeting before the game,” said Coach Aaron Fredrickson. One of the boys later revealed that they discussed staying focused and working hard from the first pitch to the last. “We call that playing ball the Richmond Way,” Fredrickson added, “and that was part of the difference today.”

The Richmond Little Leaguers play their second game on Sunday, July 10 at noon against North Central Little League.

“We’re just playing one game at a time,” Richmond Manager Roy Riley added. “Games like this don’t come around very often, and when they do, it can be a lot of fun. Tomorrow’s a new day, though and hopefully we’ll be ready.”