PORTLAND — The first two games of the Little League Softball World Series have gone about as well as the team from South Snohomish could hope for.
The team representing the West scored eight runs in the first three innings to defeat Canada 10-0 Friday morning and improve to 2-0 in pool play at the Softball World Series at Alpenrose Stadium in Portland.
South Snohomish has outscored its first two opponents 21-0 in the tournament while tallying 15 hits and committing just one error on defense.
“The big thing (Friday) was the two lefties at the top of the lineup,” said South Snohomish head coach Fred Miller. “Emily (Strong) and Haley (Winckler) both got on and the middle of our lineup, didn’t really crush the ball, but we got them in. We talked about getting runs in clutch situations and that’s what we did. Fundamentally, we’re doing everything right right now.”
Winckler went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and Kiley Hubby batted 2-for-4 with the game-clinching RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning to give South Snohomish a 10-run lead and end the game because of a mercy rule.
Strong, who was 1-for-1 from the plate with a walk, also provided a spark for the West team, scoring three runs. The center fielder has proven to be a valuable weapon for South Snohomish. Miller can pull her from the outfield with two outs in an inning, so that he can have the speedster re-enter the game as a runner an inning later.
“She’s kind of the key for us,” Miller said. “She’s always getting on base. We’ve been batting her first and then we bring her out and sub her just so she can run for people. That’s been a huge thing for us. … She probably has 15 runs in her last two tournaments.”
The West squad was aided by seven errors by the Canadian team — Layritz Little League from nearby Victoria, British Columbia. Defense is a big focus for South Snohomish, with the team only having one error in its first two games in Portland.
“We played almost a flawless game today,” Miller said. “We had one error. Other than that, Hubby made two or three plays at shortstop to take away hits. We’re very clean right now and if we stay clean we’re tough to beat. (Pitcher) Makayla (Miller) doesn’t get hit hard very often. When we do it’s nice to know we’ve got a heck of a defense behind us.”
Miller was her usual, dominant, self with nine strikeouts and just one hit allowed in five shutout innings. The lone hit came on a bunt in the final inning.
“That was a tough one to break up the no-hitter. It wasn’t hit really hard, it was just one of those things,” Fred Miller said. “Her command was great.”
The team from Snohomish gets an off day Saturday before a game against Central Iowa Little League (Polk City, Iowa) at 7 p.m. Sunday. The day off means more than 48 hours will occur between games for the West (2-0) squad.
Miller would almost prefer to just keep things rolling.
“We feel good,” Miller said. “We did exactly what we knew we needed to do, beating the two international teams. The Central game is a monster. They’re possibly one of the toughest teams down here. That’ll tell us where we’re at. We’re going to watch that team (Friday night). They look a lot like us.
“It’d be nice to play it tomorrow,” Miller continued. “But I’m super excited about tomorrow.”
South Snohomish is spending its off day helping with the Little League Softball World Series’ Challenger Game, an annual contest at the tournament for children with physical and mental disabilities.
Miller said the players are excited about helping out with the Challenger Game. Afterwards, the team will also get a practice in at some point and try to do a little scouting of other teams in the tournament.
“That (Challenger Game) is going to be an emotional thing for us. I’m excited to be there and be part of that,” Miller said. “We’ll get a practice in at some point. The tough part is waiting until 7 o’clock at Sunday. That’s such a long wait.”
South Snohomish’s last Pool B game comes against Southeast (Rowan LL from Salisbury, North Carolina) at 4 p.m. Monday. The top two teams from Pools A and B advance to the semifinal games on Tuesday, which will be broadcast live on ESPN 2.
Miller hopes South Snohomish can keep rolling as pool play wraps up.
“10-0, 11-0 seems to be our score,” Miller said. “I like that score. It’s less stressful. I don’t think it’s going to be 10-0 on Sunday, though.”
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