There was no jetlag, jitters or anxiety for Shaylann Marie Grace in the Gold Coast Majors (ages 9-12) debut at the Little League Softball West Regionals in San Bernardino, California.
Grace delivered a no-hitter to lead the Gold Coast girls to a 10-2 win over Idaho on Friday. She struck out nine and walked three to complete the feat.
Nanea Kalua’u and Hillary Connors provided the offense for the Big Island squad. Kalua’u was just 1-4 at the plate, but did her damage with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third. Connors went a perfect 3-3 batting.
Grace, Tehani Epenesa and Kierra Molina each scored two runs.
The team currently sits at 1-0, and has games against Utah, Alaska and Montana upcoming. The tournament runs through July 31. If the girls take the title at the tournament, the team would advance to the Little League Softball World Series in Oregon from August 12-19.
Joining the Gold Coast Majors on the mainland are also the Senior (ages 13-16) and Junior (ages 12-14) squads.
The Gold Coast seniors knocked off Vancouver (Washington) 8-3 on Sunday to improve to 4-2 at the tournament, and have had a wild ride in Missoula, Montana.
After losing their first game of the tournament against Marysville (Northern California), Gold Coast battled in a big way. The Hawaii squad downed Sunnyside (Arizona) 17-0, and then overwhelmed Billings (Montana) 26-5. Gold Coast also shutout Fontana Community (Southern California) 6-0 on Saturday. The teams only other blemish came in the form of a 6-0 loss against Zoo-Town (Montana).
The senior tournament wraps up on Tuesday.
The Gold Coast Juniors have had a tough draw so far in Tucson, Arizona. The team was outscored 21-0 in two games, losing to Nunaka Valley (Alaska) 10-0 and Gilroy (Northern California) 11-0.
The squad fell to 0-3 on Sunday after a comeback effort came up just short against Eastlake (Washington).