A year after winning the Babe Ruth Northwest regional title at the 10-and-under level, Ellensburg's 12-U softball squad repeated the feat last weekend.

But this time the reward was much greater.

Avenging a loss to North Olympic in the state tournament, Ellensburg rallied for a 7-5 victory over the Port Angeles team in the regional final and earned a trip to the 12-U World Series in Ashley, Penn., Aug. 7-14.

"There wasn't a national tournament offered last year for 10s so it's great the kids were able to win regionals again," said manager Ryan Berge. "We actually have only three 12-year-old girls so they really made a step up."

At the regional tournament in Meridian, Idaho, Ellensburg won all six of its games and scored four runs in the final inning to beat North Olympic in the championship game. North Olympic beat Ellensburg for the state title earlier in the month.

The team consists of Brianna Berge, Ally Burgess, Hannah Gibson, Jessica McEver, Brandee Hannahs, Brittney Snyder, Sammy Bell-Ruelas, Sydney Lund, Sara Barret, Korteney Durand, Abby Hughes and Amber Larimer.

Ryan Berge's coaches are Tammy Burgess, Rocky Gibson and Mark McEver.

Trio receives GYGSA scholarships

Hayley Martin, Renee Cuillier and Kayte Munson -- all of whom are headed to Washington State University in the fall -- received scholarships from the Greater Yakima Girls Fastpitch Association at its season-ending event on July 14.

The GYGSA concluded the season with all-star games and skills competitions at Carlon Park. The final order of finish in league play for the three youth divisions were:

10-U: 1, East Valley Dust Devils; 2, Selah Angles; 3, Selah Shockers.

12-U: 1, Selah Cyclones; 2, Selah Sparks; 3, West Valley Fusion.

14-U: 1, Selah Hornets; 2, Yakima Tigers; 3, Ellensburg Hurricanes.

SOCCER

SC Strikers 15U finishes second

REDMOND -- The Sun City Strikers' 93 Dauer squad finished second in the Crossfire Challenge Tournament on Monday, falling in a shootout to Emerald City FC in the championship final.

The Strikers won two of three matches during the first two days of the tournament, then defeated Tynecastle Reserve 3-1 in the semifinals. Emerald City won the shootout 4-3.

The team includes Ricky Badillo, Ivan Balbuena, Edgar Camacho, Carlos Contreras-Ponce, Jesus Delgado, Jesus Esquivel, Jacob Ferris, Arturo Garcia, Antonio Gonzalez, Ben Montano, Eliseo Montiel, Casey Oltman, Sean Pesek, Homar Renteria and Cristian Tejada. The coaches are Garrett Dauer and Scott Oltman.

BASEBALL

West Valley 12-U wins tournament

The West Valley Youth 12-U squad won the Rattlesnake Tournament in Richland last weekend, beating the Pasco Fury 8-1 in the championship game.

West Valley went unbeaten in pool play and defeated the Yakima Rattlers 4-3 in the semifinals.

Jace VanDeBrake had 14 hits and two home runs, Ryan Engquist had 10 hits and a home run, Dylan Peters had nine hits and two home runs, and Garett Avila and Kameron Hood both had nine hits for West Valley.

Team members are Ryan Engquist, Chris Croshaw, Jace VanDeBrake, Dylan Peters, Garett Avila, Cooper Hinton, Ryan Ross, Ben Larson, Kameron Hood, Casey Johnston, Kyle Cameron and Josh King. The team manager is Darin Peters, and the team is coached by Kevin VanDeBrake and Duane Larson.

Rebels 11-U wins at Ellensburg

The Yakima Rebels 11-U team reached the championship final in two tournaments recently, capturing a title in Ellensburg with a 9-1 win over the Pendleton Longhorns and finishing second to the Pasco Fury in Richland's Rattlesnake Tournament.

Team members are Bailey West, Austin Backes, Austin Krueger, Elias Moctezuma, KJ Ibach, Max Frame, Jacob Mortensen, Ryan Sires, Mark Ramos, Jeffre McVey, JJ Trudeau and Ketter Kupp.

The Yakima Rebels' 12-U team placed fourth in Richland and the 10-U squad placed third in the Benton City Red Mountain Classic.