The Fernley Softball Junior Little League All-Stars dominated Henderson Little League in two
games to win the Nevada State Championship and qualify for the West Region Championships.
Fernley defeated Henderson 15-1 on July 10 and 15-4 on July 11, both in four innings, to win the
best-of-three series and claim the state title. Fernley will face Timberlake (ID) at 7:30 p.m.
Friday in their opening game of the West Region Tournament in Tucson, AZ. The West Region is
an 11-team tournament, after the team from Utah dropped out. It includes teams from Oregon,
Hawaii, Arizona, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, Alaska and two from California.
In the first game Mia Espinoza drove in four runs with a pair of doubles, Nahla Burnitt tripled in
two runs and Naveah Leija drove in two. Burnitt pitched the first three innings with three
strikeouts and one walk.
In the second game, Burnitt had two hits, scored three runs and drove in four, and also pitched
three innings. Emma Collins and Lilllianna Young each hit inside-the-park home runs. After
Henderson scored three runs in the top of the first, Fernley answered with five in the bottom of
the inning, then a triple by Burnitt, and back-to-back inside-the-park home run by Collins and
Young put Fernley up 11-3.
“These girls are athletic, fast on the bases and one through seven can really hit the ball,” coach
Tye Ward said.
Most of the players also play on the Fernley Blaze travel team and all but two were on the team
that won the district championship last year before losing in the state tournament.
“It’s just a great group of girls and it really helps that they’ve grown up playing together,” Ward
said.
Junior Division roster: Cadence Alexander, Emma Collins, Isabella Martinez, Jaelyn Smythe,
Jillian Richards, Lillianna Young, Mia Espinoza, Nahla Burnitt, Nevaeh Leija, Rayne Wardleigh,
Rhea Marsh, Zoe Gillespie
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