A combined group of 9- and 10-year-old all-star softball players from Steel Lake and Kent handily defeated Bonney Lake-Sumner, 12-2, to clinch the District 10 championship.
The girls will next head to Chehalis for the state tournament beginning July 16 and will play a team from North Kitsap, District 2’s state finalist.
Steel Lake won another championship in the Juniors all-star softball tournament, where they played along with Auburn and Soundview. The team, known as the “Riptide,” dealt a dominant 16-4 defeat to South Hill’s squad in the deciding game. Up next for the Riptide will be the state tournament at noon on July 2 at the South County ballfields, Steel Lake’s home field, against Bainbridge Island from District 2.
After bouncing Federal Way National, Steel Lake’s 9- and 10-year-old baseball team lost a heart-breaker at the hands of Soundview, 5-4, in extra innings. Hits were at a premium for both sides, with Steel Lake notching four and Soundview mustering five. Steel Lake fell behind early but tied it up at 4-4 in the fifth inning. Freddy Frias was untouchable on the mound and at the plate, silencing the Soundview bats for nearly six innings and adding two hits of his own. Once Frias left the game in the seventh due to elevated pitch count, however, it took Soundview just four pitches to score the go-ahead run. Soundview ended up making it to the championship game, losing there to the undefeated Bonney Lake-Sumner squad.
Ten- and 11-year-old all-star action both began as well. Steel Lake doesn’t have a team in the softball tournament, but Federal Way National’s team made up for it by scoring a combined 93 runs in four games as the team notched two wins over South Hill and both a win and a loss to Auburn/Soundview. The team might have been out of runs after that, losing 14-2 to Bonney Lake-Sumner in the championship round.
On the baseball side, Steel Lake was knocked out after struggling against both Bonney Lake-Sumner and Soundview. As for Federal Way National, they’re on a roll coming off of winning the state championship as 9- and 10-year-olds last summer. The team has won its first three games over South Hill, 13-0, Soundview, 11-8, and Bonney Lake-Sumner, 10-0. The three straight wins set up a trip to the championship game Friday at 6 p.m. at the Federal Way National Complex in which they’ll, because they haven’t lost yet, be in the driver’s seat.
Federal Way National’s victory against South Hill was a complete team effort, with the pitching staff combining for a no-hitter and all 14 players contributing at least a hit or a run. Soundview made things more interesting, but stellar defensive play and the stranding of 14 Soundview runners on base provided just enough oomph for the win. The team then shellacked Bonney Lake-Sumner, the only undefeated team left, out-hitting them 12 to one.
In Juniors baseball action, Steel Lake and Kent knocked off Federal Way National and Soundview by a score of 12-5. The Steel Lake/Kent squad were led by the bat of Justin Tokunaga and Kai Sorenson, along with Sorenson’s four innings of one-run ball on the mound. Up next for the team is the district championship game Thursday, June 30.
Looking forward, 11- and 12-year-old baseball — the level of play eventually culminating in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, that’s televised on ESPN each year — begins this weekend. Federal Way National will play its first game against Bonney Lake-Sumner while Steel Lake has a bye and will await the winner of Soundview and South Hill.
