At this time of the year, Williamsport is the host of many great Little Leaguers. Kennon Fontenot of Lake Charles, La., is making the case that he is the best of them all. All Fontenot did in Saturday’s 5-1 win over Mill Creek, Wash. – the World Series opener for both teams – was strike out 15 of the 21 batters he faced, while giving up just one run on three hits.
Fontenot struck out the first eight batters he faced with his fastball reaching 80 miles per hour. He also went 2-for-3 at the plate with a triple and a run scored. He reached base in all three of his plate appearances. Fontenot got plenty of help from brothers Beau and Bryce Jordan, who went a combined 3-for-6 and had a hand in four of Lake Charles’ five runs. Bryce Jordan helped the Louisiana champions get on the board first in a two-run second inning with a bloop single on the inning’s first pitch.
The next batter, Nick Abshire, singled on the next pitch and Lake Charles had runners on first and second with nobody out. After Jordan and Abshire pulled off a double steal, Jordan scored the game’s first run on Colton Hunt’s ground out to first base. Hunter Self followed with an RBI single and Lake Charles had a 2-0 lead. That was all Fontenot would need, but he got more in the third inning.
Fontenot got things started in the third with a leadoff triple, showing great speed to go along with his pitching and hitting ability. Fontenot scored when Beau Jordan doubled. Jordan then made it 4-0 when pinch hitter Peyton McLemore doubled him home. Mill Creek looked like it would make it a game in the fourth inning when Dan Kingma led off with a double. He later scored on a Jason Todd single. After issuing a one-out walk, Fontenot struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam. “I just had all my pitches and tried to hit the mitt and that’s what I did,” Fontenot said.
Northwest manager Scott Mahlum couldn’t get over the performance Fontenot had on the hill. “I don’t know how you prepare to face a kid that throws that hard and has that kind of control,” Mahlum said. “I don’t know how you prepare a team for that. The batting cages don’t throw that hard.”
Gunner Leger relieved Fontenot in the sixth, recording the final two outs of the game. Leger came in with runners on base and just tried to throw strikes, he said. He induced a pop fly and grounder to the second baseman to finish off the game. “I felt like a major leaguer,” Leger said.
Bryce Jordan scored his second run – an insurance run – in the fifth inning. He doubled then later scored on a passed ball. Lake Charles faces off against Jeffersonville, Ind., Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ABC. Jeffersonville lost its opener, 3-2, to Hagerstown, Md., on Saturday.
Mill Creek will try to get its first win Monday at Noon when it plays Hagerstown.
*BOX SCORE
Mill Creek, Wash. 000 100 – 1 3 2
Lake Charles, La. 022 01x – 5 8 1*
*W *– Kennon Fontenot (1-0). L – Jason Todd (0-1). S – Gunner Leger. 2B – Beau Jordan (SC), Bryce Jordan (SC), Dan Kingma (MC). 3B – Fontenot (SC).
Pool A Records – Mill Creek 0-1, Lake Charles 1-0.
