South Snohomish fought through adversity to reach Little League Softball World Series

SNOHOMISH — It turns out the fourth time was the charm for the South Snohomish Little League softball team.

Playing in its fourth consecutive regional tournament, South Snohomish overcame stage fright — and a severe illness — to clinch a spot in the Little League Softball World Series after a 3-0 victory over Northern California at the regional tournament in San Bernardino, California on July 31.

“It’s been two months of just straight practice — or games — pretty much every day,” said South Snohomish head coach Fred Miller. “It’s just softball everyday. But we’re loving it.”

Heading to the Little League Softball World Series has been a dream for Miller and his players ever since a good portion of the team started playing together four years ago.

“I think the run started four years ago, when we thought we had a chance,” Miller continued. “This group has been together for four years and we’ve won the state championship three years in a row, so we knew if we won state this year we would go to San Bernardino. That was our first goal. But our ultimate goal has always been the World Series. We’re on a pace to do something special. We’re really excited.”

According to Miller, they are the first Washington players to reach the 11- and 12-year old Little League Softball World Series since 2001, when Kirkland made it, and the first team from Snohomish County since Marysville went to the tournament in 1989.

Despite their past success, the trip wasn’t always a guarantee for the players from Snohomish. The regional tournament in San Bernardino featured stadiums and crowds a bit larger than the South Snohomish team is accustomed to.

“Stage fright — that happens with a lot of people in the stands,” Miller said. “We saw a little bit of that in San Bernardino. The key for us is getting the kids relaxed, and to just go have fun. We’ve trained them for the last four years for this moment, so we feel like they’ll be ready.”

Adjusting to the crowds, and magnitude, of the regional games took a little time, but the team from the Pacific Northwest kept on winning.

“Some of the games get really (nervewracking), especially when we’re toward the end of the game,” said South Snohomish center fielder Emily Strong. “But it’s just really fun. We’re definitely prepared to go out there and play. … Even if the game is close we know we still can pull through to win.”

The big storyline for the South Snohomish team at regionals was pitcher Makayla Miller. The 12-year old had a kidney infection and was rushed to the emergency room after a 10-0 victory over Utah in the regional semifinals.

Miller found out she pitched four of the six games in San Bernardino with a kidney infection, but accounted for all six of South Snohomish’s wins. She threw two no-hitters, four shutouts and allowed just two earned runs in a tournament-high 31 innings pitched.

“She’s been thinking about this for four years. There was nothing going to pull her (out of the game),” Fred Miller said. “There was actually a moment in the Utah game where she came up to me after she was pitching and she was literally having to almost crawl to the mound she was so sick. But she looked back at me and she said, ‘Dad, whatever happens, do not pull me.’ At that point I went, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve got this thing.’

“She’s been waiting forever for this,” Miller said. “There’s no way she would have come out of that game. She’s such a tough kid. That moment was like ‘Rocky.’ You could just see her face: she was so sick but whatever happens, she wasn’t leaving the game.”

Makayla Miller reiterated her father’s point that she was not going to be watching the regional tournament from the dugout.

“I was really sick. But I did not want my coach to take me out. No,” she said. “I’ve never really been sick for a tournament or a game and, being down in California for (the regional tournament), there’s no way I’m not playing. I stayed and I rested until I could actually move. I just threw until they hit it and then my defense would just back me up.”

Miller said that on a scale of one to 10, with one being bedridden and 10 being perfectly healthy, she was definitely on the lower end of the scale.

“Like a two. It was really bad,” Miller said. “I was pretty much living off medicine. … When I’m pitching I didn’t feel sick. When I was walking around I felt terrible. But when I’m pitching it just went away.”

With Miller throwing “five to six miles per hour slower than normal,” according to Fred Miller, South Snohomish’s defense had to step up.

The coach looked on as his players did just that.

“Our defense is super good. We only had two errors down there going into the championship, so two errors in five games,” Miller said. “My infield is just stellar. We have a stud at shortstop in Kiley Hubby, our second baseman Brooke Jordan is ridiculously good, Ashley Jacobson’s one of the best first basemen around and Maya Erling’s doing a great job at third. Haley Winckler is a super-stud catcher. If we didn’t have good defense we wouldn’t have won down there.”

“Defense is really important,” Jacobson added. “We think that defense is what wins games.”

Now, the 13 players from Snohomish are headed to Alpenrose Stadium in Portland. Their first opponent will be the Asia-Pacific team — a squad from Makati City, Philippines — at 1 p.m. Thursday.

“I’ve been pitching practically my whole life and it’s pretty exciting going down and representing Washington and our region — that’s so cool,” Makayla Miller said. “To think that we’re representing where we live is so exciting.”

“It’s an awesome feeling,” said Hubby. “We’ve worked so hard to get there and I’m just excited to play the teams from around the world. Not everybody gets to do that. We’re blessed to be able to play all those teams.”

Playing teams from around the world was a highlight for several South Snohomish players.

“I’m looking forward to playing and seeing what the competition is like,” Jacobson said. “I really look forward to trying to get to the final and be the Little League World Series champion.”

The South Snohomish players believe they can keep their momentum going and make a deep run at the Little League Softball World Series.

“I think if we just play our hardest, and with all of our effort, I think we’ll do pretty good,” Hubby said. “We work hard to get better. We work hard at practice and we work hard and are serious in the games. We just have to play hard and have a good attitude and give it our all.”