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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Team’s March To League Title Is On His Head

All F&F Foundation shortstop Rachelle Watson could think about was the number of times her father, Ron Watson, told her she had to eat her vegetables before she could get dessert.

After Rachelle helped her team beat Ron’s Drive-In 17-13 for the 16-and-under Valley Girls Softball League title, Watson took a set of electric clippers and shaved the first bald strip in her dad’s head.

Ron Watson coaches the F&F team. At the start of the season, he told his team that he would dye his hair blue if the team won its division.

It did.

“He was walking around with blue hair for the past week until we won the championship. He said if after we won the division, if we won the championship, then he’d shave his head,” Rachelle said.

Her dad is now bald thanks to the fact that F&F’s Erica Frampton and Adri Imada came up with clutch hits. Rachelle herself regsitered a triple while pitcher Brittani Gomer got the win.

F&F will play in the regional tournament at Franklin Park next weekend. By then, Ron Watson may have stubble on his head.

In the other softball leagues, the top seeds to this weekends playoffs at the East Valley Fourplex are as follows:

10-U American: Greenacres Chiropractic.

10-U National: Sunset Decks.

12-U American: Yokes.

12-U National: Six Robblees’ Inc.

14-U American: A-1 Dog Grooming.

14-U National: Awards Masters.

Weekend championship play begins Saturday at 8 a.m.

Spokane Metro Fastpitch

In the 14-and-under and 12-and-under fastpitch action, the Valley Sliders in both divisions won their postseason tournaments last weekend.

The 14-U Sliders came through the losers’ bracket to defeat the Cougars 6-0 and 6-1 for the championship.

The 12-U Sliders also rallied in the losers’ bracket and defeated the Nitros 12-4 and 19-4 for the championship. Joanna Decker was the winning pitcher in both games.

In 18-and-under fastpitch action, the Spokane Sting won the post-season league tournament with a 10-2 win over Spokane Storm. Purple Haze finished third.

In 16-and-under, Diamond Magic defeated River City Rivals 9-1 in the title game. Spokane Heat was third.

Legion playoffs

American Legion Baseball playoff action begins tonight at Shadle Park with Olympic Sports (University) set to take on either M&L Construction or Chapter 11/Longhorn BBQ in a North Division matchup scheduled for 6 p.m.

In the South Division, Spokane Athletic Supply (Central Valley) will take on either Spokane Federal Credit Union or Global Federal Credit Union. Depending on the outcome of the league standings, SAS could be playing tonight at Shadle at 8 or on Friday night at Shadle at 6.

Twelve and counting…

Only 12 out of 70 teams remain alive in the tournaments for the three divisions of Spokane Valley Youth Baseball.

The Pony and Pee Wee leagues had their semifinals Wednesday night and the Midgets determine their finalists tonight.

All three divisions have their championship games on Saturday at West Valley High School.

The Pee Wees play at 9 a.m., the Midgets at noon and the Ponys at 3 p.m.

In the Pee Wee quarterfinals:

Matthew Johnston struck out six and allowed one run in three innings and Chad Ferrazzo had three hits and scored the winning run as Omec Construction (Trent) handed Valley OB Gyn (Opportunity) its first loss of the season, 8-7 in seven innings.

It was the third straight one-run win for Omec in the quarterfinals of the Pee Wee tournament.

The Spokane Indians defeated Zip’s (Ponderosa) 15-4, Valley Kiwanis beat its Chester rival Tom’s Barber Shop 14-12 and James Psomes DDS (University) edged Valley Electric (Sunrise) 13-12.

Chris Stiles, Ryan Moore and Sam Brune combined for 13 strikeouts in six innings for the Indians. Brune had a two-run homer in the first and Ryan Trescott had a two-run double in the second and a two-run triple in the third.

Ryan Knecht sparked Valley Kiwanis with two triples, driving in five runs.

Omec played the Indians, Psomes faced the Kiwanis on Wednesday.

Pony leaders roll

West Valley defeated Spears Used Cars (Horizon) 9-2 in the quarterfinals, earning a matchup with Perfection Tire (Bowdish) in the semis. Perfection Tire rallied to beat Nordec (North Pines) 13-10 in the quarters.

Simon Doi and Josh Thompson combined for 14 strikeouts and Kris Martin was 4-for-5 for Perfection with Ty Blakesley and Robert Worley adding two hits each.

For West Valley, Derrien Waldron and Adam Griffith struck out 14 and only allowed one hit after Spears jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first. Ian Harty scored four runs and Eric Everson and Conor Jordan had two RBI each.

The other semifinal was Mountain View II against Carsten’s Marine (Evergreen). Mountain View defeated McDonald’s (East Valley) 15-6 and Carsten’s beat Valley Electric (Evergreen) 14-6.

Americans dominate Midgets

Seven of the eight quarterfinalists came out of the American Division with heavily favored Resort by the Tracks (Orchard Center) representing the National.

Tonight’s semifinals are Happy Hatter (St. Mary’s) vs. Broadway Eye Care (University) and Resort by the Tracks vs. Norma’s Burger Barn (Otis Orchards).

In the quarterfinals Broadway Eye Care handed Medicine Shoppe (Opportunity) its first loss of the season 9-4; Happy Hatter knocked out George Velis DDS (Ponderosa) 8-1; Resort by the Tracks whipped Tradition House (Chester) 16-8 and Norma’s Burger Barn shocked Northwest Fence (Greenacres) 3-2.

, DataTimes