By Kaelyn Sayles

On a sunny Wednesday evening amidst the smell of sunscreen, South Highline National took on Pac-West in the District 7 Little League All-Star Tournament.

South Highline traveled to the Bar-S Playfields in Alki to keep their tournament hopes alive. Pac-West came to seal the deal with a championship.

At the end of the sixth, Pac-West became tournament champions, beating National 10-9.

“Before the game, we just said that they need to stay focused and try to finish it off tonight so we didn’t have to play tomorrow,” Pac-West coach Luke Hagler said. “All that hard work; this is what they were working for.”

It was a hard-fought game on both sides, with aggressive hitting, throwing and, of course, cheering.

Pac-West came out strong with their leadoff hitter Tony Brookbank hitting a home run to set the tone for the rest of the game.

Pac-West went on to score three more in the first inning while National scored none. That didn't last long as by the end of the fourth, National was up 7-4 after National player Trey Hunt hit a homer.

From then on, it was a close game, full of focused players and an anxious crowd.

In the fifth, Brookbank answered Hunt’s homer with one of his own, his second of the game, that brought in David Perkins in a two-run score. With bases loaded, Ryan Moormeier stole home, the last run of the inning for Pac-West.

At the bottom of the fifth, National was up 8-7 after scoring a run. Brookbank then showed his athleticism yet again, this time making a diving catch in the outfield to end the inning and excite Pac-West’s energy.

Brookbank’s plays weren’t lost on Hagler.

“He’s a great player,” Hagler said, who’s coached him off and on for years. “He’s just a gamer. He might get a little goofy in practice sometimes, but when a game comes around he’s there to play. He had two home runs today, that crazy, amazing catch out in the outfield, and typically as he goes, the team kind of goes. If he can keep up and stay up, they’ll stay up and keep up.”

That energy pulsated throughout the Pac-West bench.

During the top of the sixth, Pac-West brought the score back up in their favor 10-8. National answered with one in the bottom of the sixth, but it wasn't quite enough as Pac-West's closer Chase Bowen threw strike after strike.

And so the championship game ended at 10-9.

An excited Pac-West ran onto the mound, piling on top of one another and shouting in excitement as fans cheered for their team before medals were then handed out.

“It was a little more intense than we hoped for, obviously,” Hagler said. “The kids, they kept fighting, kept fighting, kept fighting back even through some adversity, some tough plays that they made.”

According to Hagler, these 11-12 year olds have shown this same resiliency since they were 10, and he’s impressed with their ability to thrive when the game is on the line.

“Being able to have the kids step up, especially at the end, and get the outs and a couple runs that we needed, it’s just great for them,” Hagler said as players lined up waiting to throw a bucket of ice on him.

Pac-West will move on to the state tournament in Walla Walla and will play their first game on July 21, potentially against a team from District 8, according to Hagler.

This team went to state two years ago, so they have an idea of what it takes to be successful at that level.

And they won’t just let the opportunity to succeed pass them up.

“We’re not going there just to show up and play, like some teams sometimes are, we’re going to win games,” Hagler said.