Moses Lake girls put their opponents on Ice

by Neil Pierson<br>Herald Sports Reporter
| July 11, 2007 9:00 PM

Heat Fastpitch also does well at ASA tournament

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Ice 16-and-under squad earned first place at the National Softball Association state championships that concluded July 1 in Wenatchee.

The Ice finished with a 6-1 record at the state championships and had to battle back to win a pair of championship games against the Vikings, a Tacoma-based squad that beat them 9-3 earlier in the tournament.

"They're a team we have history with," Ice coach Willie Holmes said. "In last year's state tournament, they knocked us out. Then we put them in the loser's bracket at last year's Western World Series."

Moses Lake opened the tourney with a pair of close victories, 6-3 over Eagle Fastpitch and 6-4 against Chaos Fastpitch. The Ice then crushed the Wenatchee Crush 8-0, but fell into the loser's bracket with the 9-3 setback to the Vikings.

Moses Lake rebounded with an 8-0 whipping of the Avalanche to advance to the championship series. Needing two victories over the Vikings to take the title, the Ice got the first in dramatic fashion, winning 7-6 in extra innings.

In the second game, Moses Lake led 1-0 through five innings, then widened the margin with two runs in the sixth. The Vikings closed to within 3-1 and threatened in the seventh after a Moses Lake error, but Ice left fielder Karly Stoltman made a huge play by gunning down a runner at home plate. The Ice held on for the 3-1 victory and the championship.

Holmes also credited Sammie Smith and Sara Byrnes with key offensive performances in the tournament, as both players hit home runs.

At last weekend's Amateur Softball Association championships in Moses Lake, the Ice didn't fare so well, scoring just one run in losing three straight games.

Moses Lake opened Friday afternoon with a 4-1 loss to Friction Fastpitch. A 9-0 setback later that to the Montesano Bulldogs put the Ice in a bigger hole, and they were eliminated Saturday morning in a 7-0 loss to the Vancouver Patriots.

"We didn't hit the ball," Holmes said. "We didn't do anything."

While the Ice struggled in A Division play at the ASA championships, the Heat Fastpitch, a Warden-based squad, did better in the B Division.

The Heat opened Friday afternoon with an 11-3 loss to the Yakima Pepsi Stealers, but quickly rebounded that evening with a 14-0 shellacking of the Sierra Mistix Fastpitch. On Saturday, a 6-5 win over the Wenatchee Crush and 10-0 stomping of Ambition had the Heat on the verge of reaching Sunday's semifinals, but they were eliminated in a 7-2 loss to the Tri-Cities Bandidos.