Photo by john larson
ALEXYS JASKARI STEALS HOME AGAINST CHINOOK.
All-stars from Fife/Milton/Edgewood Little League competed in a tournament with teams from leagues around the South Sound this week at Federal Way National Little League’s complex. The girls 9/10-year-old softball team remains alive, while the boys baseball team is done after losing twice in the double-elimination competition.
The girls defeated Bonney Lake/Sumner 13-2 on June 12 and Tahoma/Kent 9-2 on June 13. They faced Chinook on June 14.
Chinook led 6-5 after two innings. Things got rough in the top of the third inning, when Chinook took advantage of some defensive mistakes and tallied eight runs.
Fife/Milton/Edgewood responded well.
After Teagan Downs and Emma Froembling got on base, Kaitlynn Gain hit a double to drive in two runs. Gain and Nicole Richardson both stole home on wild pitches as the team scored five runs in the bottom of the third.
Chinook put two more runners across home plate in the fourth on the way to a 16-11 victory.
Jim Froembling is head coach and Dave Richardson is assistant coach.
“We had one bad inning where we gave up eight runs,” Froembling said. “We stayed competitive all the way through.”
He considered replacing starting pitcher Emma Froembling, who pitched the entire game, in the fifth inning.
“We just kept asking her to get one more out and she ended up getting four, so we let her finish the game.”
He noted she is the team’s second pitcher, with shortstop as her main position. Putting her on the mound forced him to shuffle around the lineup. “The adjustments were thrown off. We need to focus on secondary positions. We need to eliminate some of the errors and improve on defense.”
The team had June 15 off from practice, then practiced the next day. That made 12 out of 14 days the team either had practice or a game, Froembling noted.
The girls return to the diamond at 6 p.m. on June 17. If they win, they will have a rematch with Chinook on June 18.
The boys team was drawn from three Triple A teams in the league. They practiced for two weeks in preparing for the tournament. They lost to Bonney Lake/Sumner 14-3 on June 13.
They faced South Hill on June 14 and jumped out to a 5-1 lead after one inning. South Hill added two runs in the third inning, while Fife/Milton/Edgewood added two. South Hill scored four more in the fourth to narrow their deficit to 8-7. They continued their comeback and took a close 10-9 victory that eliminated the Fife/Milton/Edgewood squad.
Jeff Jensen was head coach and Bret Larson was his assistant.
The team used four pitchers against South Hill, to comply with Little League rules on pitch counts in tournament play.
“It was back and forth today,” Jensen said. “They left their hearts out on the field.” Only two of the players had participated in a tournament before, Jensen noted. “It was good for them to get this experience.”
The boys 10/11-year-old all-stars will play Chinook at 9 a.m. on June 19 at Federal Way.
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