The Gold Coast girls finally met their match in Montana.
After rolling through round robin play undefeated, the Big Island squad ran into a buzz-saw, falling to Southern California 8-1 in the championship game at the Little League Softball Senior (ages 13-16) Western Regional on Tuesday.
Southern California got on the board first with a sac fly in the first inning. The 1-0 score held until the fifth inning, when the Burbank-based squad rallied for four runs with two outs.
Hawaii responded with a run in the top of the sixth inning, but Southern Cal put the game away with a three more runs in the bottom half of the stanza.
Eliana DeRego knocked in the lone tally for Gold Coast, nailing a double that scored Tehani Epenesa.
Gold Coast went 7-1 in the tournament and beat host Zootown 11-1 earlier in the day to advance to the championship. Epenesa pitched in that contest, going all six innings and allowing just the one earned run.
The top of the lineup produced for Gold Coast in the semifinal win, with Nanea Kaluau, Kamalani Doctor and Epenesa, combining to hit .500 (6 of 12) and collecting four RBIs.
Gold Coast might have just missed out on the Little League Word Series berth, but should leave the tournament with their heads held high. In the eight games, the Big Islanders outscored their competition 55-13.