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Sports

Kirkland Softball All-Stars Win Third Straight State Championship

The Kirkland "majors" softball all-star team won its third straight state championship on Monday with an 11-0 victory over rival Woodinville.

Holding an 11-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, the murmurs began to circle amongst the supporters of the Kirkland "majors" softball all-star team.

The dream of the "three-peat" was about to become reality.

Lisa Nelson struck out nine batters in a one-hit effort and Kirkland cruised past Woodinville 11-0 on Friday night at the Northshore Athletic Fields in Woodinville to win the 2011 Washington 12-and-under Little League Softball State Championship.

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It was the third straight state title for this particular group of all-stars, who also took home the 11-and-under championship in 2010 and the 10-and-under in 2009.

Woodinville had a put scare into the dominant Kirkland team earlier in the tournament, an 8-5 affair that was Kirkland's closest of the post-season. While Woodinville seemed to gain some momentum from that showing, Kirkland manager Nolan Radke said his team was confident entering the game.

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"They knew if they played their game, they would win," Radke said. "The 8-5 game they made a bunch of errors...they hit the pitcher, they saw the same pitcher. They played better, the first time they were really nervous, this time they were more relaxed."

Kirkland got started early, scoring twice in the first before breaking the game open in the second inning. Sophia Wain, who had three RBI's on the night, hit a  two-RBI, bases-loaded single that made it 5-0. That turned out to be more than enough for Nelson, who allowed just one hit - an infield single in the third - in five shutout innings.

"She is coming back from a groin pull and so she's been getting stronger and stronger," Radke said. "She was really hurting the first part of the tournament. She was finally kind of back to normal tonight."

Woodinville put together a threat in the third inning, loading the bases on an error, an infield hit and a walk. But Nelson got Erin McGrath to fly out to right field to end the inning and Woodinville never threatened again.

Kirkland continued to tack on runs, scoring in every inning. Talia Starr hit a two-run triple in the fourth inning to make it 9-0, before a Claire Sovacool RBI-single made it 10-0 in the fifth and put the mercy-rule into effect. Nelson finished it off in the bottom of the inning for the win. 

Kirkland heads next to the western regional tournament in San Bernardino, California starting July 21. Because 12-and-unders is the first age group where all-star season extends past the state level, it will be the first time the team has advanced to the regionals.

"They just wanted to get there," Radke said of his team. "That was their goal, now we'll have to set new goals."

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