Perfection on the baseball diamond is a formidable task for any team at any level.

The Issaquah Little League 11U all-star squad, which finished the 2018 season with an overall record of 18-0, defeated the Pacific 11U all-stars (Edmonds) 12-5 in the Washington state tournament on July 21 at the PacWest Little League Fields in SeaTac.

Issaquah 11U manager Jared Carvalho said 10 members of the 13-player roster were on the 10U all-star squad that captured a state title in July of 2017. Carvalho said his team was confident going into the state tournament because of what it had accomplished the previous season.

“I think that was a big part of it,” Carvalho said of his team’s success. “We knew we had done it before and that was in the back of our heads. We knew we could do it again. Ultimately, they were just a really solid group of kids. You could tell they had that confidence and they knew they could get the job done when they were out there.”

Carvalho said his team not only defeated Pacific 11U in the title game but also conquered them in the semifinals in dramatic fashion.

“In the semifinals, we won in the last inning on a bases loaded walk. In the championship game, we got off to a really good start. We scored seven runs in the first inning. That set the tone for the rest of the game from there,” he said.

Carvalho is already looking forward to the 2019 season. Next summer, his squad will be competing in the 12U division, which translates into more opportunities on the diamond.

“As 10s and 11s (age groups) you can only go as far as winning the state tournament. At 12U if you win state, you go to to regionals and if you win regionals you go to the Little League World Series, which is obviously what everyone wants to do. We are going to try to keep this core together and keep the team intact as much as possible,” Carvalho said.

Members of the Issaquah Little League 11U state championship team consisted of Jack Babuin, Ryan Boehm, Hudson Carvalho, Luke Farmer, Will Hawk, Dylan Leaird, Thomas Rosario, River Shute, Garrett Sourwine, Hudson Sullivan, Mason Uchimura, Max Vermeulen and Ernie Whelan. The assistant coaches were Dave Boehm and Mike Farmer.