Gilroy All-Stars beat Washington 3-1 in West Regional final to
earn return trip to the Little League Softball World Series
Gilroy – When Gilroy All-Star pitcher Casey Lester found out she would be the starter in the Little League Softball West Regional championship game against Mill Creek (Wash.) Sunday, she was filled with a mixture of emotions.
“I was nervous and relaxed and everything,” Lester said.
The winner of the game would get to go to the World Series. But up until the championship, the All-Star had pitched just three innings in West Regional play.
Regardless, Lester knew she had only one option.
“I thought, ‘They’re throwing me and I have to do a good job,'” she said.
Done.
Behind a complete-game, 10 strikeout performance from Lester and a key hit from Melanie Morelos in the top of sixth inning, Gilroy beat Mill Creek 3-1 for its second-consecutive West Regional title and trip to the World Series.
On Saturday, Gilroy rallied from a 4-0 deficit to beat Oregon representative Cascade Little League. Oregon scored all four of its runs in the second inning, but Gilroy came right back in the top of the third to score five runs on hits by Lester (3-for-4), Morelos (1-for-3) and Stephanie Rodriquez (1-for-4). Sarina Sandoval, Michelle Sosa and Sam Parraz also had hits.
Pitcher Parraz went the distance for the win, striking out three batters.
After getting throttled in the second inning, Parraz settled down to hold Cascade off for the rest of the game.
“We went into the game using the curve ball and outside pitches, but that wasn’t happening,” said Gilroy manager Gene Carlisle, who had scouted Cascade’s hitting tendencies. “(The Cascade manager) geared his girls for that and they were hitting it.”
So Carlisle had Parraz work more inside pitches into her plan. The pitcher hit her spots and the strategy worked.
“They were swinging and hitting off the handle and got a lot of outs,” the manager said. “We jammed them really hard.”
In Saturday’s other semifinal, Washington upset Arizona, the team many had favored to win it all and whom Gilroy had lost to 8-2 last week in pool play.
Gilroy will open World Series play against South representative Morristown (Tenn.) Thursday at 5pm at Alpenrose Dairy in Portland.
“Everyone was just so excited and everyone wanted to go back (to the World Series),” said Morelos, who was on last year’s World Series All-Star team. “All the new girls (who weren’t on last year’s team) hoped we’d make it. They said ‘We want to see what you guys saw and feel what you felt.'”
What Morelos saw on Championship Sunday all game long from the opposition were outside pitches. By the time the catcher came to the plate in the fifth inning with the score tied 1-1, she was ready to get her first hit of the game. Morelos went after one of those outside offerings and roped it to between the right and center fielders. Sosa (1-for-2), who beat out an infield grounder to get on base, scored on Morelos’ hit.
“Once I saw it touch the ground, I saw Michelle go and I knew we had another point,” Morelos said.
Morelos would get around the bases and eventually score Gilroy’s third run on a wild pitch.
In the bottom sixth inning, Lester and the Gilroy defense went to work to stop Mill Creek’s final effort.
The first batter grounded out to Lester. The pitcher struck out the second batter. The third Washington batter to the plate hit to Gilroy shortstop Rodriquez, who made the play for the third out.
With all the pressure lifted, the team and its fans finally let loose.
“We were jumping and screaming and everyone was so excited,” Lester said. The pitcher also was one of Gilroy’s hot bats, going 2-for-3 with a double. Nicole Lara (1-for-1) chipped in another Gilroy hit.
Today, the team will be transported via limo to Portland, Ore. and Alpenrose Dairy, the site of the World Series. Gilroy will participate in the Opening Ceremonies on Wednesday before playing its first game of pool play against the South Thursday.
And this year, according to Sosa, the team has even loftier goals. In 2005, Gilroy finished sixth.
“I hope we make it on TV and win this time,” she said.
The World Series playoff semifinals and championship game will air next Monday and Tuesday on ESPN2. More information on the World Series can be found at www.softballworldseries.com.
Help Gilroy To The World Series!
The travel expenses for the West Regional and World Series tournaments will total up to $30,000 for the players and their families. Gilroy Little League has provided some funding to help offset this amount, but if you would like to donate and help the team represent Gilroy, please send your donation to:
Gilroy Little League Travel Fund
2822 Birkdale Ct.
Gilroy, CA 95020
Little League Softball West Regional Semifinal (Saturday)
Gilroy 7, Cascade (Ore.) 4
1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
Gilroy 0 0 5 2 0 0 7 9 3
Oregon 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 6 1
Championship
Gilroy 3, Mill Creek (Wash.) 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
Gilroy 1 0 0 0 0 2 3 4 1
Washington 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 0
Up Next: Little League Softball World Series vs. South (Morristown, Tenn.)
Thursday, 5pm @ Alpenrose Dairy (Portland, Ore.)
Gilroy All-Star Stat Leaders at Regional
Batting Average
Casey Lester .625
Melanie Morelos .555
Michelle Sosa .428
Pitching
Casey Lester 9 IP, 0.66 ERA, 14 K’s
Sam Parraz 12 IP, 1.5 ERA, 10 K’s
