Gilroy Little League’s Girls Majors All-Stars suffered their
first defeat at the Western Regionals tournament Wednesday, falling
to Alaska 6-0.
VANCOUVER, Wash. – Gilroy Little League’s Girls Majors All-Stars suffered their first defeat at the Western Regionals tournament Wednesday, falling to Alaska 6-0.
The loss dropped Gilroy to 2-1 in pool play, leaving the team in need of a victory in its final contest Thursday against Utah to advance to the semifinals on Saturday. (Results from Thursday’s contest were unavailable as of press time.)
The tournament’s champion will earn a trip to the Little League Softball World Series.
The loss came on the heels of a crucial Gilroy win over Columbia, the host team in Vancouver, Wash.
Gilroy got on the board in the first inning. MacKenzie Mitchell walked and was put out at second on Lauren Castro’s fielder’s choice, setting up an RBI double by Holly Lam. Two batters later, Sam Delatorre brought Lam home with a single, giving Gilroy a 2-0 lead.
Gilroy’s run production continued in the second when Elisa Perales reached base on an error. Karli Martinez followed with a single and Perales scored on a Castro at-bat. Lam came through again later in the inning, this time plating two more runs to give Gilroy a 5-1 lead. Columbia would add two runs later in the contest.
Castro was strong on the rubber for Gilroy, tossing 137 pitches for the win. She only allowed just one hit and struck out eight.
The defensive play of the game came in the top of the sixth inning. A Columbia batter thought she had a hit until Gilroy’s Brittney Souza charged in from right field, scooped the ball cleanly and threw a strike to first for the out.
