WPLL Majors also earn berth
Of the two All-Star teams the West Plains Little League formed in 2022 an 8/9/10 age group team which had the most successful run at the state tournament held in Vancouver, Wash. July 23-28. After losing 11-5 to West Seattle on July 23 they went on to win the next two games. WPLL beat Richland 6-3 and Pullman 14-0. That set up a meeting with the host Camas when an 11-0 loss ended their time in the double-elimination tournament finishing in fifth-place. Front Row: Garrett Gollehon. Kneeling (L-R): Grayson Bucklin, Talyn Rosebrook, Casen Burns, Cooper Ulrich. Standing: Ace Brown, Lance Wagner, Brett Harris, Peyton Dixon, Ole Anderson, Dakota Dixon. Coaches: Bobby Ulrich (assistant), Mark Dixon (manager), Kyle Brown (assistant).
The West Plains Little League Majors All Stars won the District 13 tournament and were the representatives at the Majors state tournament in Lynnwood, Wash. They lost both games, 10-0 to Mill Creek Little League on July 16 and the other July 18 to West Seattle Little League, 12-4. Front row (L-R): Nicc Calonge, Grady McKinnon, Cole Carter, Austen Ashcroft, Logan Strimback, Payson Hansen, Cooper Weed. Back row: Josh Ashcroft (manager), Danny Beamer , Conner Whitman, Rory McKinnon (asst. coach), John Potter, Cruz Gomez, Aiden Fontenot, Kody Beamer, and Paul Weed (asst. coach).
The West Plains Little League had one of its best outings in recent times at the state tournament - and it came from, perhaps, an unexpected corner.
The All-Star team from the 8-9-10 year-old AAA league traveled to Vancouver, Wash. and came home with a fifth- place finish and kudos for a job very well done.
"This is a huge," WPLL President Stacy Ashcroft wrote in an email. "Little League is the biggest youth sports organization in the world and competing at the state level is a big accomplishment."
For this age group, state is the furthest they can go.
The WPLL's Majors All-Stars also reached the state playoffs in Lynnwood, Wash. but were bounced out of the double-elimination tournament after consecutive losses to open play 10-0 to Mill Creek and then to West Seattle League, 12-4.
Accomplishing what they did was especially big on a variety of fronts for the 8-10 team Ashcroft said in a follow-up interview. "The competition is like nothing we ever see in regular season play and the 8/9/10 team really did an amazing job."
WPLL also did not have Little League All Stars last year and there was no season in 2020 due to COVID. "It's our first time, getting back into the swing of things," Ashcroft said.
"In 2019, we had a majors team win two games at state, which is pretty good for us to compete with those West Side teams," Ashcroft said.
The difference between East and West is more than just geography.
"It's a money thing, it's a facility thing and then there's also a huge weather component," Ashcroft explained. "Because without getting super creative, we don't have a very long season; we just don't have the weather for it."
Where WPLL teams are fortunate to play maybe a dozen games in their regular season, the teams on the West Side are probably playing 50 or 60 games a season or more leading up to the All-Star postseason.
"And many of them (in the West) play travel ball," Ashcroft said.
WPLL has had different coaches along the way who have tried to put together tournaments to get the kids more games and more experience.
"That's an added expense, it's definitely a ton more work," Ashcroft said. "You only get a few coaches every-once-in-a-while that want to put in that kind of effort," she added.
That 8-10 group were also very new to the game. While the Majors are designed to be more competitive, AAA ball is the developmental level.
Many of the kids that were on that team played triple A baseball during the regular season. "They were playing at a whole new level some of them had never seen so I was just tickled pink that they even competed," Ashcroft, the WPLL President since 2017 said.
Following an 11-5 loss to West Seattle the WPLL contingent had a day off before defeating Richland, Wash. 6-3 followed by a 14-0 victory over Pullman. Their run came to an end at the bats of host Camas who were 11-0 winners on July 28.
"We just played one of the best games of baseball that at that level that I've ever seen," Ashcroft said of the win over Pullman.
Looking to the future under her watch as the leader of the association founded in 2004, one of Ashcroft's goals is to do the obvious as WPLL will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2023.
"I'm really wanting to build our program and make sure that I'm doing my part to recognize individuals, coaches, community support the players just in an effort to build the program and get recognition where recognition is due," she said.
And Ashcroft loves to remind those who follow and support WPLL that not one dime goes to any paycheck and is run completely by volunteers. "Coaches, board members all give freely of their time investing in our youth," she said. "And we have many West Plains businesses that generously support our program."
West Plains businesses and community members helped raise close to $12,000 for travel expenses and both the Cheney and Eastern Washington University police departments gave the Majors team an escort out of town.
"There's just a lot of cool little pieces of it that I mean, we're just super thankful to live where we do," Ashcroft said.
The baseball component is not the sole focus, either.
"Our hope is that children are exposed to important values of integrity, hard work and teamwork through our program - and grow up to carry these values into their communities," Ashcroft said.
Paul Delaney is a retired Free Press Publishing reporter and can be reached at [email protected].
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