Area Sports by Michael Dashiell

What a ride.

Sequim's 11- and 12-year-old Little League all-star softballers battled their way through three elimination games to come within a single win of a state berth, but finally dropped a 9-0 decision to host Bainbridge Island at Strawberry Park on Sunday afternoon.

After dropping a 6-3 decision to Bainbridge on July 5, Sequim reeled off big wins against North Kitsap (16-3) and Jefferson County (18-3) last week, and, needing to beat Bainbridge twice, topped the islanders 5-3 in seven innings on Saturday. The magic wasn't there Sunday, however.

The loss leaves Sequim's juniors softball team as the lone local entry to state. Sequim's juniors already had a state berth locked up after other area towns (Jefferson County, Gig Harbor, etc.) decided not to field teams, opening up an automatic berth.

They open the state tourney July 18 in Vancouver, Wash., against the host Division 4 all-stars.

Sequim's 9- and 10-year-old softball all-stars had a terrific battle in the district consolation semifinal on July 9 but came up shy, falling 7-6 to Gig Harbor to end their season. After a loss on July 6 to Bainbridge, Sequim faced a tough road, needing to beat Gig Harbor, Bainbridge and finally Jefferson County twice for a district title.

In Little League baseball action, Sequim's 11- and 12-year-old baseball majors all-stars were eliminated from the district tourney by the slimmest of margins, falling 4-3 to Gig Harbor on July 8 at Art Mikelson Field in Port Orchard. Sequim was 0-2 in the tourney, falling to South Kitsap West 5-0 in the district opener.

Sequim's 9- and 10-year-old all-stars were eliminated last week. After splitting their first two games, the South Kitsap East squad bumped Sequim from districts on July 5.