Williams 11-12 Majors softball win one, lose two at State tournament

WILLIAMS, Ariz. - Williams Majors Little League softball team represented District 10 in the state playoffs in Fountain Hills July 6. The State Little League Softball Tournament was a week long double elimination tournament represented by 12 different district champions throughout all of Arizona. The winner of the tournament moved on to Western Regional playing the state champions from the western region of the U.S. in San Bernardino, California.

The girls' first game was against the champion of District 1 and ended with a loss to a strong Flagstaff team by the score of 18-3. Coach John Romero said on the second defensive play of the game starting first baseman Brittanie Cauthen injured her leg making a play. He said it was hard for the girls to move on after seeing Cauthen injured and the girls played tight throughout the rest of the game.

"The girls played extremely nervous and made several defensive mistakes that took them out of the game early and we were never able to recover," Romero said.

The Williams team returned to the tournament July 7 and faced Arcadia Little League, a team composed of girls from the Fountain hills and North Scottsdale communities. The Williams team bounced back from the previous day's loss and defeated Arcadia 16-12.

"Again it was a game with critical errors that kept Arcadia in the game, however, Williams was able to prevail," Romero said. "The win gave the girls a boost of confidence for the next day."

The Williams girls returned to Fountain Hills for a third game against Thornydale Little League out of Oro Valley/Tucson. Despite a strong pitching performance from Ashlynn Kennelly, the team lost the close game, 2-1.

"It was anyone's ball game," Romero said. "Our girls played tough defense to keep the bats quiet from Thornydale, but Thornydale had an extremely strong pitcher that kept our hitters off balanced, and was probably the fastest pitcher that any of these girls had probably ever faced."

Romero said overall it was a fantastic experience for the girls to compete in the state tournament and to win a game against a Phoenix team. He said to compete against Tucson was quite an accomplishment in itself. Romero said the difference in winning and losing against those teams came down to lack of experience playing softball.

"We have such a strong group of extremely athletic girls in this small community ages nine to 14, and for us to go out and compete in the state tournament says a lot about their athletic capabilities," Romero said. "However the teams we face in the state tournament play softball year-round, going to state like tournaments twice a month, four games a tournament, playing nine months of competitive softball."

Romero said the girls in Williams only play a month and a half of little league softball, and then play basketball, volleyball, cross country, and among other activities.

Romero wanted to thank coaches Kevin Larimore and Kodi Mortensen for helping with the success of the team. He also wanted to thank the Williams Little League Board and volunteers for a successful year.

"A big thank you to the community for the support and donations to help the girls go to state," Romero said. "And a thank you to the all the parents that helped in fundraising, and traveling supporting the team. It was a great experience for the girls, and the success we had will only build for a bigger and brighter future for Williams softball."