Juneau’s Gastineau Channel Little League majors softball team earned the right to represent Alaska in dominating fashion, but fell short in consecutive games against teams representing Oregon and Washington in being eliminated from the 2023 Little League World Series Northwest Region tournament on Monday.
[Video recap of Alaska vs Washington in LLWS Northwest Regional tournament on Monday]
The Juneau girls opened with a 9-1 loss against Oregon on Saturday at the tournament in San Bernardino, California. The local team put up more of a fight in a matchup against Washington before ultimately losing 13-6 and being eliminated from the tournament.
The Oregon matchup saw all Juneau batters strike out during the first two innings, as Oregon pitcher Janelle Guiney threw 13 strikeouts in the game, and Oregon took a 6-0 lead by the end of the second inning. Juneau rallied for a run in the fourth inning, but Oregon scored three more times in the fifth inning.
A far more competitive Juneau team emerged in Monday’s game against Washington.
After falling behind early, Juneau stormed back to a 6-3 lead with a monster fourth inning. But Washington took the lead with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, then took the lead for good with six more runs in the fifth inning.
The Northwest Region tournament features teams from Oregon, Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Wyoming, who are competing for a spot in the Little League Softball World Series that takes place Aug. 6-13 in Greenville, North Carolina.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
