Laurel reclaims spot as host team in World Series

With just more than a week to go before the Pyle Center in Roxana plays host to the 2010 Senior League Softball World Series, the international field is starting to fill out. The 2008 champions from the Latin America region, ASOFEM League out of Maunabo, Puerto Rico, will be returning to the tournament, as will the KMC American Little League, based out of Ramstein, Germany, representing the Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) region. But much of the focus this year will be on the hometown favorites, the host team and District III champions out of Laurel, Del.

Coastal Point • file photo
Stephanie Wheatley fires off a pitch during Game 1 of last year’s Senior League Softball World Series. Wheatley, along with the majority of last year’s Laurel team, outgrew the Senior League, though a young Laurel team will host this year’s series in Roxana.This marks Laurel’s fourth consecutive year as the host team in the Senior League Softball World Series, and the sixth time in the past seven years that Laurel has earned the top spot in the district. However, many of the team’s original starters have moved up to Big League softball after last year’s World Series season, which draws from throughout the county.

Only a handful of Laurel’s returning players have seen the big lights of the Senior League Softball World Series, but thanks to their veteran coach, the team still has their eyes on the top prize – the World Series trophy.

For nearly two decades, Kenny Willey has been coaching Little League softball, and this year, as Laurel’s manager, he’s just happy to be carrying on the tradition.

“We’re not setting high expectations,” he said. “We have a very young team, with just four girls returning. We’re hoping to be competitive, and if we play hard and play smart, we can, hopefully, get to the semifinals.”

Willey stepped in this year as Laurel’s manager after former manager Jeff Evans moved up with the majority of the girls into Big League softball. The Big League team will head to the Eastern regionals this week, in hopes of continuing their tradition and making it to Kalamazoo, Mich. – home of the Big League Softball World Series – in early August.

On Aug. 8, Willey’s team will take to the diamond, in hopes of improving on last year’s runners-up title.

“We’re looking for good pitching and solid defense to come together,” he said.

Five years ago, Willey took the Major League softball team to the regional championship in Albany, N.Y. In this year’s road to the series, Laurel had to overcome an early tournament loss to Woodbridge. Laurel pushed past Cape Henlopen in the first round, 18-0, last Friday, July 23, but succumbed to Woodbridge in their first meeting, 15-2, placing them in the losing bracket.

But this past Sunday, July 25, they defeated Georgetown/Millsboro, 12-2, and found themselves facing Woodbridge again. A 2-0 win for Laurel evened out the series between the two, but playoff procedure pegged the two against each other for a third time, as Woodbridge only had one loss in the tournament. Laurel came out victorious once again, winning 2-1 in the eighth inning and nudging them into the series.

“The first defeat in the tournament,” said Willey of the Woodbridge match-ups, “was a wake-up call for our team. I told the girls to relax, not to play tight, and play well – and that’s exactly what they did.”

Now, with the Senior League World Series looming in their near future, Willey is hoping his team can continue their diligent play and push on in the biggest stage of all.

“I’m telling the girls to get ready to enjoy it,” he said. “As long as you do your best and play smart softball, good things will happen.”

This past week rounded out tournaments for the Canadian and Asia-Pacific regional teams for the Senior League Softball World Series, too, both of which are making their debut in Roxana.

The Asia-Pacific winners out of Guam – an American territory in the Pacific Ocean – defeated the team from Jakarta, Indonesia, three times in the regional tournament to advance to the series. This marks the first time since the Senior League Softball World Series has been held in Delaware that the Asia-Pacific team does not hail from the Philippines.

Last year, the Canadian team withdrew from the tournament for reasons unknown, but this year, the Turtle Club Little League out of Windsor, Ontario, has earned a spot at the series in the Canadian division.

Five other United States regional representatives will be determined in the coming week, with one team winning at spot in each the following regions: East, West, Southwest, Southeast and Central.

The reigning champions of the Senior League Softball World Series came from Calhoun, La., and represented the Southwest but that team did not make the regional tournament this year.

Check out the Coastal Point’s Homeplate edition for continuing coverage of the Senior League Softball World Series, which starts swinging at the Pyle Center in Roxana from Aug. 8 through Aug. 14, with the championship game being broadcast on ESPN at 11 a.m. on Aug. 14.

For more information about the series, visit www.district3.org online.