Every season, however special, must come to an end.
The Gastineau Channel Little League Major Softball All-Stars saw its season end Wednesday night in San Bernardino, California, the host site of the annual Little League West Regional tournament.
Almost three months to the day after the Little League season opened in Juneau, it was over for the 13 players selected for the squad.
The GCLL team — Alaska’s representative at the tournament — lost 11-1 to Washington (Mill Creek) in the quarterfinal game at the picturesque Al Houghton Stadium.
“It was rough, they were crushed,” Juneau manager Nicole Adair said by phone on Thursday of the loss. “They worked so hard to get here and they have just done a tremendous job. I’m so, so proud of them.”
“As a manager, I don’t think there is anything worse than seeing the hurt and let down on their faces, they wanted it so bad and we just couldn’t pull it off,” she said.
Washington’s Simone Williams threw almost all strikes — 51 out of her 75 total pitches — and sat down eight batters in the process. Williams did not walk any Juneau batters, either.
“We were swinging our bats, we were late, so she was bringing a little bit of speed,” Adair said. “But I really didn’t feel like she had anything more than what we saw in Anchorage.”
Abbott-O-Rabbit Little League took GCLL to five games in the state championship series before eventually ceding the championship to Juneau.
In the first inning, Washington, who averaged 10 runs per game in pool play, tallied half that scoring output in the first inning. That dynamic offense forced Juneau to make a pitching change before the inning was up.
Kiah Yadao, fresh off her winning performance against Montana on Tuesday, relieved Tahila Kuma, Juneau’s towering pitching ace.
The rest of the game felt much more even, as Juneau picked up a run in the third inning after Aspen Kasper tripled. With Kasper on third base, Gloria Bixby put the ball in play to score her teammate.
The score remained 9-1 throughout the fourth inning, before Washington added two more runs in the fifth.
Adair praised Washington for their display of sportsmanship after the game. As the team walked toward their dorms just outside the ballpark, Washington players offered words of congratulations and encouragement.
“That was a pretty big win for them and they didn’t stick their nose in the air and walk away with that,” Adair said.
After finishing the regular season, the All-Star team went on to play 12 more tournament games in Juneau, Anchorage and San Bernardino. They were 7-5 over that span.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
