Saturday, August 21, 2010
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Ally Deemer pitched consistent strikes during the 2010 World Series of Little League Softball in Portland, Ore., Monday. The team from Poland beat the team from Canada, 7-1, and to advance to the semifinals.
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A Poland baserunner slides into second base between a pair of Canada fielders during Monday's game in the 2010 World Series of Little League Softball in Portland, Ore.
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Poland huddles together before taking on Puerto Rico in their second game of pool play at the World Series of Little League Softball in Portland, Ore., Aug. 13. Poland Little League went on to win the game, 7-4.
Poland Community Little League succumbed to a late comeback by Oregon District 4 representative Tigard Wednesday at Alpenrose Dairy, losing 5-4 to end its appearance in the 2010 Little League Softball World Series.
Oregon won the game by breaking a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs when a passed ball allowed pitcher Emily Sorem to score the winning run.
The loss secured a fourth-place finish for Poland in the tournament. Despite ending their tournament on a two-game skid including, Tuesday’s 1-0 semifinal loss to defending champion Warner Robins, Ga., manager Chuck Masluk said the team was satisfied with the result and the experience.
“Our goal coming in was to make the final four and we did that,” he said. “We can’t even put into words how proud we are of these girls.”
Coach Dave Marsico echoed the sentiments.
“Losing this consolation game is pretty insignificant when you put it next to the run we made this year and all the amazing things this group accomplished,” he said.
Poland broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning on an Aleah Hughes’ two-run single, but Oregon answered in the home half, as Tana Baggenstos led off with a single and scored on Dena Emmons double down the left-field line. An infield single and two walks then scored Emmons to tie the score before Poland’s defense turned an inning-ending double play to quell the threat.
Ally Deemer pitched all six innings for Poland and struck out five batters in the game.
Oregon evened the score in the home half of the inning when a two-out triple off the right-field wall by Korok scored third baseman Alexa Kaplan, who led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.
TOURNAMENT ROUNDUP:
GAME ONE — POLAND 5, TEXAS 4
The Poland 11-2 Little League softball team defeated Texas, 5-4, in their World Series debut.
Representing the Central Region, the Ohio champions jumped on Texas for two runs in the first inning and three in the second.
Claire Testa was a catalyst for Poland, scoring a run in the first inning and another in the second.
Three errors by Texas allowed Testa and Ally Deemer to score for a 2-0 Poland lead.
In the second inning, Madison Rowe and Abby Masluk singled and Testa walked. An error and passed ball brought Rowe and Masluk in for a 4-0 lead. With two outs, Aleah Hughes singled to score Testa with Poland’s fifth run.
The Texans, representing the Southwest Region, rallied for four runs in the third inning. Five walks and Shannon Loukanis’ RBI-single contributed to the rally.
GAME TWO — POLAND 7, PUERTO RICO 4
Poland improved to 2-0 in the series by defeating Puerto Rico 7-4 at Alpenrose Field .
The Bulldogs led 7-2 going into the sixth inning before Maunabo, Puerto Rico, the Latin America Region champion, scored twice and put two more runners on base.
“Latin America was a good team and they can really hit,” Poland manager Chuck Muslak said. “We very easily could have lost that game.”
In the first inning, Poland’s Abby Masluk singled to right field then stole second and third. Starting pitcher Claire Testa walked and drew a throw from Puerto Rico catcher Jennifer Morales while stealing second, allowing Masluk to steal home for the game’s first run.
Jenna Schettler singled to lead off the second inning. She then stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball.
A walk and an error loaded the bases with no one out, but Puerto Rico pitcher Ninoshka Ortiz earned a strikeout and an infield fly before a passed ball scored Schettler for a 2-0 Poland lead.
Puerto Rico bounced back in the top of the third, loading the bases with no outs. A line drive from Nelvaliz Ortiz glanced off the face mask of third baseman Arlia Duarte, led to an out at home, but a Jennifer Morales RBI-single and an error netted two runs for Puerto Rico to even the score.
A Testa walk, single by Ally Deemer and a passed ball led to a Duarte ground ball through shortstop, scoring two runs. Dani Rutana then dropped a soft liner into shallow center field to score Duarte for a 5-2 advantage.
GAME THREE — BURBANK 1, POLAND 0
Poland lost its first game of the tournament, a 1-0 decision to West Regional Champion Burbank at the Alpenrose Dairy sports facility.
“I was pretty pleased with the way our team played, even though it was less than perfect, but it was a very good game,” said Masluk.
Poland’s Aleah Hughes pitched well in a complete game effort while throwing a two-hitter, with two strikeouts and a walk. The pitching duel between Hughes and Burbank’s Jade Teetsel was scoreless for the first two innings.
Poland had a golden opportunity to score in the third. Third baseman Maddie Rowe singled to left and center fielder Abby Masluk (2 for 3, single, double) added a two-out single up the middle. The next batter, Claire Testa drew a walk, loading the bases, but Burbank got a putout to end the threat.
In the bottom half of the third, Burbank capitalized on a Poland error and a runner scored from third base on a passed ball as it took a 1-0 lead.
In the fourth, missed scoring chances again hurt Poland when it had two baserunners. Alia Duarte drew a two-out walk, followed by a Rutana single. Burbank catcher Michelle Santiago made a key defensive play in throwing a ball to first baseman Kaitlin Okimoto to get the third putout.
Poland had a final scoring opportunity in the sixth when first baseman Ally Deemer hit a grounder to left field but the threat stalled.
GAME FOUR — POLAND 7, CANADA 1
Poland advanced to the semifinals and a spot on national TV with a 7-1 victory over Canada representative Layritz Little League of Victoria, B.C.
“For our girls to make it to a national TV game, I don’t know how many layers of icing that is on the cake but it’s awesome,” Masluk said.
Canada scored in the home half of the inning when first baseman Alyssa Zicari slapped a soft line drive into shallow right field to score Kaitlyn Tucker for a 1-0 Canada lead.
The lead held until Poland finally broke through in the fourth, as second baseman Claire Testa led off with a single and advanced to third base before scoring on a passed ball to tie the game.
Deemer gained first base on the dropped third strike that allowed Testa to score, then stole second and took third on a passed ball. Aleah Hughes drew a walk and Jenna Schettler legged out an infield single to load the bases with no outs. After a Saulnier strikeout, Rutana hit a ground ball down the first baseline. The throw home wasn’t in time and Deemer scored to give Poland the lead.
Saulnier walked Megan Marisco to force in another run for Poland before earning her seventh strikeout of the game to end the inning. Saulnier finished with 11 strikeouts while allowing five hits and four walks.
Poland tacked on three more in the fifth to stretch the lead to five.
GAME FIVE - WARNER ROBINS 1, POLAND 0
Warner Robins, Ga., pitcher Avery Lamb limited Poland to one hit and struck out 12 batters as the defending World Series champions from the Southeast Region edged the Central Region champions, 1-0, in a semifinal game.
Warner Robins earned seven bases on balls and one of those, to Sierra Stella, resulted in the game’s only run.
After Stella walked to lead off the top of the first inning, she advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a flyout, Lamb’s grounder advanced Stella to third, and she then scored on a passed ball.
Poland threatened in the bottom of the fourth when Allyson Deemer lined a one-hit triple to right-center field. It turned out to be the Bulldogs’ only hit. Lamb got the next batter to ground out to first baseman Hayley Tierce, who made a nice play to keep Deemer at third.
The Bulldogs’ only other base runner was Aleah Hughes, who walked to lead off the bottom of the second inning. Hughes was forced out at second base on a fielder’s choice.