By Aaron Coe
For The Herald
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif — The Mill Creek Little League All-Stars took another step forward with an 11-1, five-inning victory over Alaska on Wednesday in a loser-out, Western Regional Tournament game at Al Houghton Stadium.
Mill Creek (3-0 in regionals and 11-0 overall) advanced to the semifinals, where it will face Northern California at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Mill Creek, the No. 1 seed in each of the past two seasons, lost in the opening round of elimination play in 2016. On Wednesday, however, the team erased thoughts of another upset by pouncing on Alaska with five runs in the top of the first inning.
“The girls haven’t talked a lot about last season, because they know what I’ve been preaching the whole time,” Mill Creek coach Daryl Stevens said. “I’m sure it felt good for all the ones who were here last season to get that win and keep advancing. But ultimately, we have the goal of getting through this whole thing.
“We’ve got our eye on the prize.”
Mill Creek faced two tough opponents — Alaska and a stomach illness that caused two players to miss Wednesday’s game and left the availability of several others in doubt until just prior to game time.
“Eleven hearts tonight instead of 13,” said Stevens, whose team would earn a berth to the Little League Softball World Series with victories on Thursday and Friday.
Alexis Sicairos doubled twice, drove in two runs and scored four times for Mill Creek. Avery Hare added a pair of RBI singles. Simone Williams pitched a two-hitter and recorded eight strikeouts.
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