11-12 fast-pitch team wins championship

MEEKER I They did it the hard way but Meeker’s 11-12 girls fast pitch softball team won the Valley Youth League championship last Saturday. Meeker entered the tournament undefeated (12-0) and the No. 1 seed but a loss in the second round sent them to the loser’s side of the bracket of the double elimination tournament, where they had to fight their way back into championship game a beat their New Castle opponent twice, in order to win the title.
“The kids did great,” Rick Dodds, who along with Janae Shelton coach the team, said. “After losing the second game of the tournament and falling to the loser’s bracket, they came back strong, making very few defensive errors.”
Paintbrush Park was the site of the tournament, where Meeker played Basalt in the first round and beat them 20-6. The Meeker girls then lost 8-9 to a team from New Castle, who continued on to the championship game with a win over Eagle in the first round and Glenwood Springs in the championship semifinals.
Aspen forfeited to Meeker in the loser’s bracket, matching the local team up with Eagle Valley, who they beat 19-4. Meeker would give Glenwood Springs its second and eliminating loss of the tournament with a 20-9 win, for a rematch with New Castle.
Meeker would have to give New Castle two losses to win the title and that is what they did, beating them 22-1 in the first game and 26-3 in the championship game.
“It was a long day of softball, playing three in a row, but the girls came back strong offensively, outscoring their opponents 87-17 in the final four games to win the tournament,” Dodds said.
Dodds said the 11-year-olds on the team have now won the Valley Youth League Championship the past three years and the 12-year-olds on the team have been a part of two championships in the past three years.