Pac West opened the District 7 Little league Softball Majors (ages 11-12) Tournament of Champions by storming to a 15-3 four-inning victory against South Highline American at Valley Ridge field No. 2 in SeaTac on Monday, June 13.
Basic baseball skills powered the Blue Thunder.
"We played pretty good," observed Pac West manager Steve Wydick. "We were patient at the plate and when we got the pitches, we hit. When we get good defense, good hitting and good pitching. That wins games."
American scored two runs to open the game on opportunistic running by Natasha Rici and Tatiana Leahy who scored after getting aboard on errors.
The Blue Thunder showed its patience in the bottom of the inning by combining walks with Natasha Scandiffio's run-scoring ground out and Kiki Waiau-Bass's RBI single in a five-run outburst.
Kassidy Streeter led off with a walk and eventually scored South Highline's final run on a wild pitch in the top of the second, but Randi Evert's ground out RBI and a three-run inside the oark homer by Grace Williams keyed another five-run salvo for Pac West in the bottom of the second.
One final inning of five runs in the bottom of the third by the Blue Thunder set up the shortened game due to the 10-run rule. Basic regular season rules were used. These rules included batting the entire player roster and having a five-run limit for each per inning.
Blue Thunder pitcher Gracie Mecklenburg earned a complete game win, setting down the final seven SHALL batters and pitching the last two consecutive scoreless innings.
"I normally get stronger as the game goes on," explained the 10-year-old hurler. "My confidence builds up."
Despite the TOC loss, South Highline American manager Marie-Faye Shaeffer paid tribute to her team's tremendous growth during the regular season.
"I'm so proud over our whole season," she said. "They did a wonderful job and improved so much."
In other news, District 7 umpire Rich Rossmeire has been selected to umpire at the Little League Fastpitch Softball Regional Tournament in Butte, Montana, on July 25-August 3.
