Pierce County little league team with matching cowgirl hats makes bid for world series
For the first time in league history, South Hill Little League is set to represent Washington state in the Little League Softball World Series Northwest region tournament.
The majors all-star softball team flew out Thursday morning to San Bernardino, California for the July 22-28 tournament. They won state earlier in July, beating Mill Creek 7-4.
Their first game is July 23, and their opponent is to be determined, either Montana or Wyoming. You can catch them at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
“These 13 young ladies are the embodiment of what it means to grind and put in the hard work,” said Jake Veitenheimer, president of South Hill Little League.
The girls are all around 12 years old, Veitenheimer said, selected from six different South Hill Little League teams. After the all-star team was put together, they won their division and went to state.
Some have played and lost at the state level. This experience fueled the girls to go further, Veitenheimer said.
“I’ve been playing with these girls for years,” said Riley Humphrey, pitcher and first baseman. “We’ve always wanted to keep going past state.”
The northwest regional tournament is made up of six states: Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, all competing to represent their region in the Little League World Series Aug. 8 in Greenville, North Carolina.
Since the all-star team was brought together, the girls have spent significant time getting to know each other inside and outside of the game.
“These girls have formed tight friendships through this,” said Chad Simon, the all-star team general manager and South Hill Little League vice president of softball. “It’s extended past the softball diamond with sleepovers and making bracelets together.”
The girls all have white personalized cowgirl hats, some with their numbers and others with pink bedazzled letters. A few have black or white faux-feather lining.
“Their sense of belonging as one softball family has led to our successes,” Simon said.
South Hill Little League is the largest in the state with close to 1,200 kids.
2023 has been full of successes for South Hill Little League. They sent five teams from baseball and softball to their state tournaments.
“South Hill went out and performed extremely well this year,” Veitenheimer said.
With all the league’s state tournament appearances this year, the majors softball team stands alone as the only one to make it out of Washington.
“Now that we’ve gotten past state, we want to go all the way,” Humphrey said.
This story was originally published July 21, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
