Arizona beats Pawcatuck-Westerly 3-2 in Junior World Series softball opener
Kirkland, Wash. — Did Pawcatuck-Westerly play the best of the 10 softball teams taking part in the Junior League (ages 13-14) World Series?
Only time will tell, but if so, expect the East Regional representative to make plenty of noise despite playing nearly 3,000 miles from home.
Jazmine Ayala's two-out double in the bottom of the seventh inning scored Anacely Gutierrez as Sunnyside (Tucson, Ariz.) defeated Pawcatuck-Westerly 3-2 in the opening round of pool play on Sunday at Everest Park.
Ayala was also the winning pitcher, scattering four hits over seven innings while striking out seven.
Sunnyside's roster includes players from the 2013 Little League World Series championship team and a 2014 Junior League World Series semifinalist.
"I told the kids after the game that this is one of the better teams we're going to see," Pawcatuck-Westerly manager Ray Arruda said. "And that pitcher (Ayala) is going be one of the better ones, if not the best, we seen in this tournament.
"We certainly had our chances against her, which was good to see."
Pawcatuck-Westerly, in Pool B, gets back into action on Monday at 2 p.m. against Robinson (Texas), which played Olmeca (Mexico) in a late game Sunday.
Pawcatuck-Westerly, which trailed 2-0, tied the game in the fifth inning on a two-run single by Abby Flakus, who had two of the East Region champion's four hits. Her hit drove in Colette Dreher, who doubled, and Miranda Arruda, who was hit by a pitch.
Trinity Lennon was the losing pitcher, striking out four in 6.2 innings.
Despite the loss, Arruda said his players are enjoying their "once in a lifetime experience" in a city 20 miles south of Seattle.
"I told the girls when we're playing, 'it's 100 percent softball,'" he said, "but as soon as the game ends, live it up out here. They were hanging out with the Tucson kids last night as well as players from the other U.S. teams ... plus they jumped right in and struck up conversations with players from the Philippines and Netherlands.
"It's one world, especially with the kids. It's takes less than a second for all of them to become best friends. It's really wonderful to see. I've said all along that Little League is still the purest form of organized softball there is, and this just proves it."
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