Eleven 9 and 10-year-old boys from Ypsilanti made the 115-mile trip across I-94 to Mattawan on Friday, headed toward one of the most exciting experiences of their young lives.

And they’ll play in Little League Baseball’s 2010 minor league Michigan state championship tournament, too.

“Sometimes I think they’re just as excited about staying in a hotel together as they are about playing,” jokes Ypsilanti National Little League coach Matt Distelrath. “I have to remind them if there wasn’t a baseball tournament to play, we wouldn’t be staying in a hotel.”

True, the trip is about baseball. And the boys from Ypsilanti can play, as they proved in a dominant district tournament performance last week.

Ypsilanti National Little League 9 and 10-year-old team members include (front row, left to right) Jabob Hogg, Ryan Bost Jr., (middle row) Zachary Fruit, Brett Watson, Cameron Thompson, Cody Burnette, Jaden Riling, Camron Williams, coach Ryan Bost, (back row) coach Matt Distelrath, Grant Clover, Colin Smith and Ryan Hurd Jr. (Photo courtesy of Ypsilanti National Little League)

Opening ceremonies for the 16-team state tournament are being held Friday night at Homer Stryker Field in Kalamazoo, home of the Kalamazoo Kings of the Frontier League. The first of team’s three pool play games will be played at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Ypsilanti National won its first three district tournament games by a combined score of 47-10. And they held a comfortable 8-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth (and final) inning of the championship game before Jackson Southwest rallied to tie the score. Unfazed, Ypsilanti National rebounded to win 9-8 in extra innings.

“We hit the ball extremely well, from our No. 1 guy all the way to 11,” says Distelrath, who is an assistant basketball coach at Concordia College. “We don’t have a lot of big kids, but we’re a really athletic team. We do a nice job of hitting the ball in the gaps and putting pressure on teams with our quickness and athleticism.”

Ypsilanti National claimed its first trip to the minor league state tournament since 2006 after eliminating Dexter - “a thorn in Ypsilanti National’s side for years,” Distelrath says - in district play.

The Dexter Little League did have plenty of success this summer, however.

That group’s major league baseball team lost in the finals of the state tournament in Gaylord, the 10 and 11-year-old boys reached the semifinals of the state tournament in Gladstone, and the major league softball team advanced from pool play of its state tournament before losing to eventual state champion Clinton.

"The Dexter Little League is definitely an up-and-coming program," said major league coach Julio Rodriguez. "This team made it the furthest ever - a one-run loss in the championship game. And I tell you what, if we would have won I think we would have had a parade in Dexter. People are loving their baseball."

Dexter trailed defending state champion Richmond 4-0 in the championship game before a three-run home run by Noah Melifont pulled them within a run. But Richmond closed out the 4-3 win to advance to the regional tournament.

That leaves Ypsilanti National’s minor league team with the last chance of having a Washtenaw County team win a state title.

Distelrath says pool play will be competitive. He said Ypsilanti National wasn’t fortunate enough to draw the traditionally weaker teams from the northern part of the state - where the baseball season is considerably shorter - but they also avoided the traditional powerhouses from the Tri-Cities and Grand Rapids area.

After pool play games on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the top two teams from each of four pools advance to an eight-team single-elimination tournament that runs Tuesday through Thursday.

The Dexter Little League major league team includes manager Julio Rodriguez, coach Scott Schouwenaar, Sean Fitzsimons, Chase Rojeck, Zac Sharp, Noah Mellifont, Nick Rodriguez, Spencer Vollmers, Mike Sturza, Mike Martinez, Cameron Milne, Gavin Schouwenaar and Jared Juback. (Photo courtesy of Dexter Little League)