Reaping the benefits of a season of hard work and focus, the Soundview Huskies firmly finished off the Fife-Milton Edgewood Blue Ice 6-0 on Monday, June 11, in the title game of the 2007 District 10 Little League Softball Tournament of Champions.

As tears of joy crept out of the corners of her eyes, Sammy Townsend described her feelings.

"I'm totally amazed," she joyfully intoned. "I'm stunned and shocked that we've really won it after all we've been through. We were confident that we could win. I know that we have good defense, a good team and good friends."

From the mound of the Federal Way American Little League fields at Sacajawea Jr. High, Townsend was the maestro of all that she conducted, finishing with 12 strikeouts while allowing only two hits and four walks in a six-inning route-going effort.

Striking quickly in the top of the first inning, the Huskies (12-2 league, 15-2 overall) permanently placed the Blue Ice into cold storage with a 5-run outburst.

Rachel Ward led off with an infield single before Tina Hickock drew a base on balls. Both runners eventually advanced two bases on passed balls. The second passed ball allowed Soundview to lead 1-0.

After a strikeout, Sammy Townsend delivered a run-scoring, stand up double to left field to increase the margin to 2-0. Marissa Townsend singled Sammy home for another run ahead of a Katelyn Dilworth one-baser that was rifled off the top of the shortstop's glove. Third baseman Kaitlyn Sharp singed a two-run double into the left center field gap for the fifth run of the inning and Soundview was smoking in the sunshine showdown. Sharp singled home the final run of the game in the fifth inning.

"I'm so excited and happy to be here and winning," exclaimed Sharp, who batted 3-for-3 with a double and 3 runs batted in. "We worked as a team and communicated. Being aggressive at the plate was important."

Soundview sailed through the TOC field with excellent attitude and spirit.

"I feel good because we won and no runs were scored on us," reported Sharp.

Soundview's Huskies blasted out 13 hits in a five inning 16-0 stomping of Kent to open the tournament. Lauron Jones notched a pair of doubles including one that cleared the bases while Sammy Townsend twirled a 1-hitter.

Leading only 1-0 after four innings in the next match up, the Huskies erupted for four runs in the fifth inning to capture a 5-0 decision against Bonney Lake-Sumner to qualify for the championship game. Townsend mastered Bonney Lake-Sumner on another 1-hit shutout.

Seeds of success were sown early in the season.

"We started with a bunch of kids in a Little League that hasn't had a history of success," recalled Soundview manager Doug Townsend. "We worked on basic mechanics and development. We had a camp at Middle Meeker School where Michelle Thiery worked with us for four hours. In April, we let the kids pick their positions for the first two weeks of the season, losing two games. After that, our average margin of victory was 14 runs."

Other factors completed the excellence of execution.

"Our coaches were in agreement, and we just let the team go hit the ball," concluded Townsend. "It's been a giant family effort with support from family members."

Players for the 2007 District 10 Little League Softball Tournament of Champions are Rachel Ward, Tina Hickok, Lauron Jones, Sammy Townsend, Marissa Townsend, Katelyn Dilworth, Kaitlyn Sharp, Kourtney McCann, Annalise Quach, Megan Reddaway, Alex Destephano, Trista Webb and Jen Foraker.

Assisting manager Townsend are coaches Bruce Jones and Pat Reddaway. League president is Tom Lackey.