Centralia softball players' Little League ride ends

By Jeremy Jacob, Sports Editor
Posted 8/17/22

They made it to the national stage and made some noise but fell short.

Centralia middle schoolers Ealynne Bostick, Jaylynn Brown and Karli Andersen qualified for the Little League Softball World …

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Centralia softball players' Little League ride ends

Posted

They made it to the national stage and made some noise but fell short.

Centralia middle schoolers Ealynne Bostick, Jaylynn Brown and Karli Andersen qualified for the Little League Softball World Series last week in Greenville, North Carolina, and played their final innings as part of the Central regional (Missouri) team. They lost 8-2 to New England (Connecticut) in a nine-inning marathon after losing a 3-1 pitcher’s duel to the Mid-Atlantic (Maryland) in the first game of the tournament. The Daniel Boone Little League team came away with a decisive 12-0 four-inning victory against Europe-Africa (Italy).

Even though their experience has ended, the Lady Panthers are aware of the gravity of the situation they played themselves into and are grateful for the innings they did have.

“This experience has been so much fun,” Andersen said. “It is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I know that a lot of other girls would also like to be where we are right now.”

On Aug. 9, Missouri’s Rylee Ellsworth allowed three unearned runs and two hits while striking out seven against Maryland but couldn’t outpitch Macy Rickards, who allowed one unearned run on three hits while punching out eight. Brown scored Missouri’s lone run in the fourth inning on an error that allowed Bostick — 2-for-4 — to reach base. Maryland allowed two runs through its first four games in the tournament to advance to the championship game.

Missouri found the thunder in its bats again on Aug. 11 against Italy, tallying nine hits and scoring seven of its 12 runs in the third inning, which it hadn’t seen since scoring at least 10 runs against Michigan and Iowa in shutout wins in the regional round. Brown finished 2-for-2 with two RBI, a double, a run and a walk, Bostick scored two runs and drew two walks and Andersen picked up an RBI groundout.

“Our team has succeeded because we all stick together and nobody gets down on anyone else,” Andersen said. “We all try our best to bring each other up when someone feels down.”

The next day against Connecticut, Missouri’s game was moved to ESPN2 in the afternoon. Then part of the game was moved to the evening as rain forced a delay.
Missouri jumped ahead 2-0 after two innings thanks to a first-inning RBI single by Keelee Hagler that brought in Bostick and an RBI groundout by Taylor Trim in the second inning. Connecticut tied the game in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Lily Stankevich.

After a rain delay, Connecticut came out in the ninth inning swinging, scoring six runs on three hits after starting the frame with a bunt single. Ellsworth struck out 10 through 81/3 innings before giving the ball to Brown, who allowed an unearned run and a walk through 2/3 of an inning. Bostick finished 2-for-4 with a double, run and walk.

Through the three games, Bostick led the team with a .556 average and 1.333 OPS and had a .550 average through all seven games this summer. Brown had a .389 average in the seven games, and Andersen drew three walks in nine at-bats in that span.

Andersen said she enjoyed the time she spent with her old and new teammates and will cherish the memories.

“My favorite memory is how, after we play our games, we would all go into someone's room and rewatch the games on the TV as a team,” Andersen said.


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