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The West Pasco Angels placed fifth in the 2002 Dixie Softball League World Series. Most of those players got another shot at a title as Ponytails in this week's series at Alexandria, La.
Tuesday's 6-4 loss to South Carolina, however, left West Pasco with a 2-2 mark in the 11- and 12-year-old division for another fifth-place finish.
"I'm disappointed in the fact we didn't go any further, but we're happy to get this far," said West Pasco manager Jim Garland, who also is that league's president.
As for this year's Angels (ages 9-10), they surpassed West Pasco's run in 2002 by making the final four of their DSL World Seris in Bay St. Louis, Miss. The Angels improved to 3-1 with Tuesday's 7-6 defeat of Louisiana and played Alabama Wednesday at 6. (Results were unavailable at press time).
ANGELS EXTEND RUN: The Angels opened their series with a 14-6 win against Arkansas followed by a 9-4 loss to South Carolina. A nail-biter came next and that 1-0 win over North Carolina in eight innings kept them in the title hunt.
"That was a big game," Angels manager Frank Guercio said. "The kids know we can do this now. We've got a shot."
Jessi Allen and Caitlan Rambo, the Angels' third and fourth batters in the lineup, were the first two hitters in the top of the eighth against North Carolina. Both told Guercio they would hit doubles to win the game "and I'll be darned if Jessi didn't rip one down the third baseline to get a double," Guercio said.
Rambo struck out, but Lea Burbridge's base hit up the middle plated Allen. Rambo earned the win on the mound, her second win of the series, and second baseman Cassidy Guercio preserved the victory by catching a popup and tossing quickly to Rambo at first base for a double play.
In Tuesday's one-run win over Louisiana, Hannah Erickson evened her series record at 1-1 by pitching all six innings.
Louisiana scored four runs in the first, but the Angels countered with six runs in the bottom of that inning. Allen's two-run double and Erickson's run-scoring single keyed that outburst and West Pasco got another run in the bottom of the second on Bianca Presti's triple that scored Allen.
Rambo, Erickson and Heidi Crider pitched in the first game with Rambo getting credit for the win. In that eight-run win over Arkansas, Presti paced the offense with two singles and three RBIs. Allen scored three times in that contest.
FIFTH AGAIN: Cortney Radke, the Ponytails' hard-luck pitcher, took both losses.
Radke was on the mound when the Ponytails made four errors and allowed six unearned runs in the elimination game. And she pitched the opener, a 4-1 loss to Arkansas.
The Ponytails rallied from a 3-0 deficit against South Carolina with three runs in the third before collapsing late. In that game, Taylor Brucker had two hits with Carley Parker, Courtney Dougherty and Alberti contributing one apiece.
Against Arkansas, West Pasco scored an unearned run on Ana Alberti's RBI groundout.
Dougherty, who went 2-0 in the state tournament, won two series games. She had a complete-game effort in a 2-1 win over Alabama and split time on the mound with Hayley Davis and Samantha Stahl in a 13-2 defeat of North Carolina.
Bruckner's two-run triple scored Jamie McCullough and Davis in the fifth to account for the winning hit against Alabama.
The defense helped the Ponytails get out of a jam in the fourth inning of that contest. With a runner at first base, Bruckner fielded a grounder at shortstop and threw to first baseman Stahl, who relayed the ball to third baseman Davis for a double play.
In the rout of North Carolina, Alberti, Dougherty and Bruckner each drove in two runs with Davis, Alberti and Dougherty each scoring twice. Bruckner had two singles and a double in that game.