Youth baseball: Midland Northern claims District 3 Little League title

With the Fender triplets, it is tempting to ask them yes-no questions, or anything that will yield a one-word answer in the form of a 12-year-old chorus.

Did you all start playing baseball at the same time? “Mmm, hmm.”

Who taught you? “Our dad.”

What’s his name? “Byron, B-Y-R-O-N.”

It is humorous, but their skills on the Midland Northern All-Stars team are serious. The triplets — second baseman Luke, right fielder Justin and third baseman Davis — helped defeat the Mid City All-Stars 16-9 on Friday at Jim Parker Park’s Groves Field for the Little League District 3 championship.

Northern is an 11-player team that’s comfortable with each other, and it should be. In Friday’s starting lineup, you had the Fenders, the Mata brothers — shortstop Evan and first baseman Jacob — and Kohl Fritschen and Hunter Coleman, who along with the triplets both played on the same Mets team before the tournament.

Oh, the Mets and the North All-Stars were also coached by Kohl’s father, Kirk.

“They can communicate with each other without really talking,” Kirk Fritschen said. “You see it on the field, in the dugout. Especially the five (Mets), they know what they want to do.”

The team expects to go far — eight were on a team that two years ago advanced to the 10-year-old state championship round — in part because of the comfort level.

And also because it is an excellent team.

In the District 3 tournament, Northern outscored opponents 74-12 and hit 23 home runs, including five Friday.

Assistant coach Alex Mata hasn’t seen this type of offense since a team he coached in 2007 lost to Lubbock Western, which advanced to the Little League World Series.

“We are definitely not as big as they were,” he said. “Defensively, we’re better. We’re good offensively, too, but the difference is Lubbock Western’s pop flies were home runs.”

Still, Midland Northern has power.

Kohl Fritschen and Coleman each had two homers, while Justin Fender hit a grand slam in the sixth. Fritschen led off the game with a solo shot, and in the second inning Coleman blasted one over the left-center field fence.

“We just love hitting home runs,” he said. “It’s awesome. Sometimes you get lucky, but we have a lot of good hitters.”

Northern advanced to play in the Section 1 championship in Monahans beginning July 15.

From there, it’s the state and regional rounds. The regional winner goes to Williamsport, Pa., for the World Series.

Northern has hope.

“Every Little Leaguer’s ultimate goal is to go to Williamsport,” Kirk Fritschen said. “And I think they believe they can. That’s a lot of the battle, believing.”