Big Win in League of Their Own, but Little Fanfare

As the U.S. Little League champs from Mission Viejo fought their way to the World Series last week, the cheering section back home included some champions in their own right.

While they did not return home to quite as much fanfare, two girls’ fast-pitch softball teams from Orange County were crowned Amateur Softball Assn. national champs earlier this month.

Players, coaches and other officials involved in girls’ softball lament the relatively small amount of publicity they get compared to boys’ Little League. But they have been watching, and rooting for, the South Mission Viejo All-Stars.

“We feel great for them,” said Gary Haning, coach for the 18-and-under Gold, or elite, girls’ softball team that won its division Aug. 10 in Oklahoma City.

Thirteen-year-old Bree Boyer, who is on the 14-and-under national championship team based in Santa Ana, also gave the boys a slap on the back.

“They’re pretty good,” she said, but still had some advice for her male counterparts, who lost the world championship game Sunday, with a score of 5-4.

“They get a lot more mad if they strike out,” she said. “They get too mad about what they’re doing.”

The girls’ softball winners from Orange County include the nationally recognized Orange County Batbusters, who won the 18-year-old and under Gold division.

In the national playoffs, the Batbusters beat out 57 teams in an Oklahoma City competition that attracted talent scouts from top colleges.

In the 14-and-under division, Santa Ana-based USA Athletics took first place in the championships held in Rockford, Ill., on Aug. 10. There, 74 teams competed for first place, association spokesman Ron Babb said.

Competing in the national playoffs comes only after winning regional qualifying rounds, Babb said. Just entering the national playoffs--let alone taking first place--is considered an accomplishment.

“We can say we crowned the best team in the nation,” Babb added.

The mild weather and intense competition in Southern California mean that local baseball and softball teams regularly finish in the top of their divisions, officials said.

But it is unusual in girls’ softball for two of the five Amateur Softball Assn. division winners to hail from Orange County.

“It’s interesting,” Babb said. “You’ve got two national champions there.”

While both girls’ teams are officially based in Santa Ana, loose boundary regulations allow for players from other Southern California counties.

Fast-pitch softball officials give a number of reasons for the relatively small amount of publicity the girls’ national champs have received. Some trace it to a long-standing emphasis on men’s sports.

Mike Helo, assistant coach for the girls’ 14-and-under champs, acknowledged that girls’ softball supporters need to make a stronger public-relations push. But he was still a little miffed at the small amount of coverage.

“I don’t feel the sport gets the publicity it should,” Helo said. “That [girls’] championship is equal to the Little League World Series.”

Some, however, believe the sport will gain greater recognition now that it is an Olympic event.

The girls, who can practice year-round to keep themselves in top shape, must contend with pitches that reach upward of 60 mph.

Jennie Finch, who is on the Batbusters, was not sure who would win in a matchup with a boys’ team.

“But it would be a good game,” she said.