Jenay McAuley's walk-off grand slam to end the first game of the district tournament against Northwest Seattle set the tone for the Northeast Little League Softball All-Star team, the Slammers.
Two exciting games later, this group of 9- and 10-year-old girls from Laurelhurst, Wedgwood, Ravenna, View Ridge and Lake City had earned the title of District Champions, beating the team from Woodinville 7-6.
The district tournament's final game was marked by Kaitlin Cappetto's strong pitching and catcher Mariah Jameyson's gutsy steal home to put the Northeast team ahead in the last inning.
THE STATE TOURNAMENT
Having earned the district-championship title, these 13 girls - coached by Rob McAuley and Mike Cappetto and managed by Adam Gavin - headed to the Washington State All-Star tournament in Mount Vernon.
The girls lost their first game July 14 to the heavily favored team from Redmond, but the double-elimination format meant that the Slammers kept playing until they fell one more time.
The team's strong bats and aggressive base running was supported by more good pitching from Cappetto and Casey Pelz.
Though the team often found itself behind, the girls kept battling back, winning four straight games to make it to the championship game on July 21 against the undefeated Redmond team.
Redmond pulled ahead in the fifth inning of that game and kept the lead, defeating the Northeast team 8-6.
Congratulations to the Northeast Seattle Little League 9- and 10-year-old Softball All-Stars for finishing in second place among more than 60 teams in Washington state!
NEXT SEASON
Northeast Seattle Little League (www.nesll.net) offers softball and baseball to more than 1,000 girls and boys age 5 to 18 who live between Lake Washington and 25th Avenue Northeast and the Montlake Cut and Northeast 105th Street.
Sign-ups occur in December and January, with the season running from March through early June.
Janet Pelz is a parent of one of the Northeast Seattle Little League players. She lives in Wedgwood.
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