The Steel Lake Little League Braves were victorious in the Little League Majors Tournament of Champions that was held from June 6-8. The District 10 Tournament of Champions featured teams from Steel Lake Little League, Federal Way National Little League, Auburn Little League, South Hill Little League, Fife-Milton-Edgewood Little League, Kent Little League, SoundView Little League and Bonney Lake-Sumner Little League.

The Braves faced the majors team from Fife-Milton-Edgewood Little League in the first round. It was their closest game in the tournament as they won 5-3.

They defeated the South Hill Little League team 33-1 in the second round of the tournament. They sent 25 batters to the plate in the first inning and scored 18 runs. Jaylon Sandlin had the lone home run for the Braves. It was called after four innings.

The Braves faced the Kent Little League team in the championship. They won by a final score of 10-0 in three-and-a-half innings. Jack Arsenian and Austin Null both hit home runs in the game. Arsenian’s was a three-run home run and Null’s was a two-run home run.

It is the first championship for Steel Lake Little League since 2010.

Federal Way National Little League was represented by the Royals. They defeated the Auburn Little League team in the first round, but fell to the Kent Little League team in the semi-finals.

The softball team from Federal Way National Little League fared a bit better in their tournament. The Federal Way National Little League Heat won the softball Tournament of Champions.

The Heat finished the regular season undefeated and earned a bye to start the tournament.

They begin play in the semi-finals of the tournament where they defeated the Fife-Milton-Edgewood team. The 10-run rule went into effect in this game.

In the championship, they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back as they defeated the SoundView Little League team 5-2 to capture the title.

Heat pitcher Jesenay Agulto struck out 14 batters in six innings pitched in the championship game. She also had two RBIs.

It is only the third time in the last 30 years that a Federal Way National Little League team has won the Tournament of Champions.

The players for the Heat are: Jesenay Agulto, Christine Lee, Anna Swanson, Kawehi Sharpe, Makenna Togia, Tianna McLarty, Xochitl Moreno-Gomez, Paige Sugg, Maclairen Magruder, Kaycie Haven, Peyton Miller and Faith Morris.

Federal Way National Heat pose with trophy. Back row from left to right: assistant coach Gary Haven, Maclairen Magruder, Faith Morris, Christine Lee, Anna Swanson, Jesenay Agulto, Tiana McLarty, assistant coach Sean Swanson and Kaycie Haven. Contributed photo