MARYSVILLE Throughout the Strawberry Tournament, the La Hacienda Sox of improved their margin of victory on their way to a championship game appearance and a second-place overall finish.
The Marysville Little League team defeated South Everett 3-1, North Everett 8-1 and Stilly Valley 10-3 to qualify for the tournament playoffs. Handling North Snohomish and Marysville rival Walker Coffee Company, the Sox made the June 14 game where they finally ran into the brick wall also known as the Mill Creek Jaguars.
Jose Flores and Josh Martin pitched the 12-0 heartbreaker for the home team. They combined for five strikeouts against a very talented Mill Creek program.
Carlo Nunag pitched a two-hitter for the Jaguars, giving up singles to Sox catcher Josh Richter and second baseman Corey Coombs.
Walks and errors gave Sox fans hope to cling to, but no one got closer than in the first inning when Coombs was within a base from scoring.
Despite the loss, the Sox players appeared proud of their overall tournament effort when awarded second-place trophies after the game. In addition to their individual trophies, Flores and shortstop Austin Valadez were awarded engraved baseballs for home runs hit during the tournament.
When La Hacienda qualified for the playoff bracket, team manager Ernie Brown said the Sox exhibited solid team play to get as far as they had.
Im just proud of the kids, he said. They did great. They gelled together and understand the team concept we try to teach.
The Strawberry Tournament was a proud moment for Marysville Little League fans. The long-running tournament draws applications from many Little League teams around the region, ensuring quality competition.
Marysville teams took four of the tournaments 21 slots. Of those 21 teams, three Marysville teams La Hacienda, Walker Coffee Company and Carrs Hardware qualified for the eight-team playoff bracket.
Walker Coffee coach Bryan Ness said he wasnt surprised by the number of Marysville teams to move on in the tournament.
Our league had a lot of parity. It was really close and we had great competition throughout the year, Ness said. Marysville has been developing a competitive program.


At Cedar Field

Mill Creek 3 1 3 2 3 x 12
La Hacienda 0 0 0 0 0 x 0