Win or lose, the Gastineau Channel Little League Major All-Stars are asked the same question at the conclusion of each game: “Did you give it your best effort? “
According to GCLL head coach Nicole Adair, following Monday’s Little League West Regional Softball Tournament loss to Utah, her team’s answer to that question was an honest, “No.”
It was an important wake up call for the team before beginning bracket play against Montana on Tuesday morning at Al Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino, California.
“And so [Tuesday morning], I said remember the question that I’m going to ask you at the end of this game, I’m going to ask you to all raise your hands if you gave that game your best effort,” Adair said.
The GCLL team, representing Alaska with eight other states in the tournament, remembered her words, and went on to defeat Montana 2-1. A loss would have meant an early exit from the tournament. The win advances the Juneau team to a quarterfinal matchup with No. 1 seed Washington on Wednesday. Washington trumped both Hawaii and Montana in pool play.
“Everyone was excited to shoot their hand up in the air,” Adair said of the response to her question following the win.
It was the first win of the tournament for GCLL, who lost to Northern California 10-6 and Utah 11-0 earlier in the tournament.
In addition to putting in their best effort against Montana, Adair said the team is showing more confidence on the field.
“They played more like the team that we know we have,” Adair said. “We just need to be getting our sticks alive and getting some more hits. We need those big Anchorage innings that we had; but they do seem like they’ve settled in.”
Kiah Yadao pitched six strong innings to keep Montana scoreless until the final inning. GCLL got on the board in the fourth inning with two runs.
Anna Dale led off the inning with a double and came around to score on Peyton Carson’s single. Later in the inning, Carson tagged up on Aspen Kasper’s fly ball to center field to score the game-winning run.
Wednesday’s game will be streamed on the Gastineau Channel Little League Facebook page. If Juneau can pull off the upset against Washington, they will play either Southern or Northern California in the semifinal. The two California squads play one another Wednesday night after both finished pool play at 1-1.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
