Mose Lake Ice finish ninth at World Series

Finish caps off tremendous season

ST. GEORGE, Utah — The Moses Lake Ice 14-and-under fast pitch team went to the National Softball Association Western World Series last week.

They finished ninth but were in no way disappointed by their showing.

In the first two games, the Ice cruised past opponents. They defeated the Salinas Rockets 4-1 and the Southern Utah Diamonds 3-0.

"Our defense was flawless," head coach Willie Holmes said. "We just played steady."

In the third game, versus the San Jose Extreme, the Ice continued their winning ways.

Their starting pitcher Samantha Smith scattered seven hits during the game, while striking out just three batters.

They scored enough runs to win in the first inning when lead off batter Shawnee Durbin reached base on a walk. Vanessa Hernandez followed with a bunt single of her own.

Smith was the next batter and she sacrificed both the runners into scoring position. Katie Cram finished it off with a double and two RBI.

The Ice went on to add three more runs and defeated San Jose by a score of 5-1.

Things got more difficult for the Ice the rest of the way.

On Thursday they played a team from California called the Inferno. Things got off to a great start for the Ice when Durbin led off the game with a triple. She hit the ball all the way to the 200 foot marker on the fence. She scored on a wild pitch.

Leading 1-0, the Ice were cruising until the third inning when for the first time the Ice defense let them down.

The Inferno hit a ball that should have been a double play but instead they were able to continue the inning and ended up scoring four runs.

"We just didn't execute there," Holmes said. "They normally would have made it."

The teams played one more inning before play was suspended because of thunder and lighting.

"We had to come back and play at 5:00 a.m. the next day," Holmes said. "The next day, we just didn't hit the ball."

The Ice dropped their first game of the series to the Inferno by a final score of 5-1.

Their second game that day came hours later at 10: a.m. against another team from California. The Hotties.

"All year we are playing from behind and now we are jumping out on top early," Holmes said.

The Ice held a lead of 1-0 but it was not enough to counter the Hotties, who hit seven consecutive singles at one point and went on to defeat the Ice by a score of 9-2.

The loss ended a very successful season for the team. They finished ninth at the World Series out of 23 teams total.

Holmes said the heat really affected how his team played. At one point, near the end of the first game, five players went down and could not play.

He was worried that he might not have a team to take the field with the next day but all his players stepped up and everyone continued to battle on.

The tournament was held in St. George Utah and all the families and players drove down for the tournament. The team spent more than a week total in Utah for the tournament.

"Parents were always there," Holmes said. "All the parents went to St. George.

This season also gave the coach a chance to evaluate the talent that is coming up to the high school level.

A majority of the kids on the team will be freshman in high school next year and competing for a spot on the fast pitch varsity roster in Spring.

"I think it was a great season," Holmes said.