Area Teams In Line To Finish Strong
Two Spokane teams and one from Colville will finish in the top five of 15 teams in the Amateur Softball Association Women’s Major Modified Pitch National Tournament at Franklin Park.
Brunette Sportswear, a tournament host, will finish in the top three, while Colville’s Hites/Crawford Doors can finish no worse than fifth.
Kimmel Athletic finished fifth after being eliminated by Rogers Renegades of Hooksett, N.H., 11-2.
Brunette Sportswear defeated Stan Mill Mitts of Vestal, N.Y., 10-6 and Hites/Crawford Doors 9-5 to earn a spot in the semifinals, where the team will face red-hot PA Club of Massachusetts for a spot in the championship game. The final is set for approximately 1 p.m. today.
PA Club defeated Team Spokane 11-1 and Kimmel Athletic 28-3 to advance.
”(Sunday) morning’s game is going to be an excellent ballgame,” said Fuzzy Buckenberger, ASA commissioner and coach of Brunette Sportswear. “PA Club is a good team, but I personally think that we’ll stay right with them.”
Spokane’s Pyramid Car Stereo, Waffles N’ More and Team Spokane were knocked out of the tournament after two losses.
Saying goodbye
This tournament will be the last for Kevin and Sue Carpenter, Hites/ Crawford Doors’ coach and third baseman respectively, in the state of Washington.
The two have their packed U-Haul waiting in front of the Sheraton, ready to leave early Monday morning on their way to their new residence in Ohio.
“It’s going to really be tough to leave the league and the program,” Sue said.
Because Sue and Kevin and their team from Colville have played in the Spokane league for the last four years, despite the 90-minute drive to every game, Spokane Amateur Softball Association commissioner Buckenberger presented them with a bouquet of rose.
“It was a really neat gesture; I thought that it was very special,” Sue said.
Welcome back Jamestown
Jamestown, N.Y.’s The House That Jack Built won the national tournament when it was in Spokane in 1991, and decided to return this year.
“It’s like coming home,” coach Kathy Landers said. “We loved this area when we were out here. We had a great stay in 1991 and just a super tournament.”
Although only eight teams traveled from the east to play, Landers expressed that it was important The House That Jack Built was represented.
“It was the fact that we won here and we enjoyed our time here,” she said. “We definitely put our time in to earn the money to get back out here.”
The New York team was eliminated by Team Spokane 9-0.
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