As the Hernando Youth League Angels (age 9-10) All-Stars lined up for the trophy presentation at Tom Varn Park two weeks ago, head coach Billy Williams said they all assumed their run was over.
HYL had just lost 4-1 to West Pasco on June 19, concluding the District 4 Tournaments that had been held there over the previous three days, and as a runner-up would not be moving on to states.
Then longtime state director Danny Brooks delivered an unprecedented decree. HYL had not only shockingly hung with West Pasco, considered a heavy favorite to win the district and a contender for a state crown, the Brooksville bunch had knocked off West Pasco the day before, also 4-1. West Pasco had won 3-2 against HYL that Saturday.
Brooks was so impressed by the competitiveness of those three contests, he decided to award HYL with a berth into the state tournament, next weekend in Bristol.
“It’s quite an honor,” Williams said. “They’re pumped and excited to go up to the state tournament. With West Pasco being one of the favorites, that gives us a little confidence that we’re capable of playing with them. I’m excited for the girls.”
The HYL Angels will be the lone state representative from Hernando County outside of the HYL and Spring Hill Debs (age 16-18), as that division did not hold a district tournament and those teams automatically advanced. West Pasco dominated in the other three divisions, Darlings (age 7-9), Ponytails (age 11-12) and Belles (age 13-15).
In the three-team Angels district tourney, HYL opened on June 16 with an 18-11 victory over Spring Hill. Leadoff batter Angelina Finelli went 4-for-4 with three doubles and scored three times. Arreon Roberts added three hits.
“Spring Hill is a very young team. They have a lot of talent, they’re just very young. They played their hearts out,” Williams said. “All the girls were hitting the ball extremely well.”
That led to the first meeting with West Pasco, a game that stayed scoreless until both teams scratched across a run in the fifth to force an extra inning. West Pasco scored twice in the top of the sixth, while HYL only notched one run in the bottom half. Shyann Lynch and Daria Lawson each had RBI singles respectively for HYL, while Annabel Chinetti tossed a complete game, striking out 11.
“The girls were really excited. They could tell they had a chance to play against mighty West Pasco,” Williams said. “Leaving Saturday night, we really felt confident with the way we stacked up against them.”
With West Pasco eliminating Spring Hill that Saturday, 10-0, HYL needed to beat West Pasco twice on Sunday to capture the championship.
HYL achieved the first half of that equation, building a 4-0 lead when Roberts and Mika Vaughan singled and scored in the top of the second, then Lynch doubled home a pair in the fourth. Roberts went the distance on the mound, giving up just two hits, two walks and two hit batters while striking out eight.
In the second game of the day, a winner-take-all affair, West Pasco jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first. Then in the fourth inning, the skies opened up and forced a postponed until the following afternoon.
When play resumed, West Pasco scored two more in the fourth. HYL tallied its lone run in the bottom of the inning, Kira Stone drawing a walk and eventually coming around.
“Their coaches told us after the first game Sunday that we put some fear into them that they didn’t expect,” Williams said. “We expect to go up (to states) and play hard. We expect to play good defense, have great pitching. We fully believe we’re capable of anything, to be honest.
“Why not us? Why not take the HYL Angels All-Stars to the World Series? You never know. We have to win our first one and go from there.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.