The Battle Mountain Little League softball all-stars fell short of their goals in Missoula, Mont., finishing with an overall record of 1-7. The young ladies played their hearts out competing against some of the best softball teams on the west coast.
The Silver State champions traveled to Montana this past weekend and competed against stiff competition from other squads around the West in the district softball tournament.
The opening ceremonies started with an opportunity to meet the other players and was followed by a skills competition. The ladies competed in three events which included a home run derby, fastest baserunner and cannon arm.
The girls stayed competitive during the challenges, but it was Reagan Buller who placed third in the fastest baserunner competition with a score of 6.9 seconds from second base to home plate.
“Missoula has been great to us, this tournament has been very welcoming and friendly,” said Lena Slade-Cahill
On July 21, the first game started against a strong Oregon team who won by the score of 19-1.
“The first few innings we had a lot of nervous girls that couldn’t get their heads in the game,” said coach Cammoe Holland. “Then Oregon came to play and didn’t have very many errors.”
The Nevada girls kept their heads up while coming back to win their second game against Wyoming 27-15, with Adriana Robles securing the Most Valuable Player in the ball game. The third game did not go as planned with the Battle Mountain falling to Hawaii 24-2.
Unfortunately, the team couldn’t swing luck into their favor after losing all three games on July 22, falling to Northern California 18-1, Montana Zootown 15-0 and Montana 21-0. After the tough stretch of games, the girls’ chances of advancing were bleak.
On Sunday, July 23, the Nevada softball team took the field against Arizona and lost by the score of 21-4. In the final game, they played Southern California hard but lost by a score of 13-1.
The young ladies were officially eliminated from advancing. The girls were not able to move forward to the next stage but still learned about softball and made some friends along the way.
“Before the tournament began Coach Ron Pacheco had made a deal with the girls and said if they won at least one game they could dye his hair,” Slade-Cahill said. “If they win two, they get to paint his nails and with three wins he gets to wear a dress. They won one game, so yes this happened.”
Coach Pacheco might be walking around Battle Mountain with pink hair in upcoming weeks, but wished the town could see him with a manicure and matching dress.
