Kaitlyn Tso helps lead Flagstaff All-Stars to state championship

Posted by Oree Foster | Jul 27, 2017 | Baseball |

FLAGSTAFF

Navajo Times |Submitted
Kaitlyn Tso helped the Flagstaff All-Stars 8-10 girls’ softball team to the Arizona Little League State Championship in Avondale, Arizona.

Kaitlyn Tso believed in her teammates and herself during the Flagstaff All-Stars 8-to-10-year-old girls softball team’s illustrious run toward the state championship.

Tso, Navajo/Hopi/Cochiti Pueblo, was an integral part of Flagstaff’s drive toward its ultimate prize.

Offensively, Tso, 10, had 22 hits at the plate to lead the team during its eight games. In the pitching circle, Tso was dominant, striking out 51 batters during the tournament.

“I was so excited, happy and cried tears of joy,” said Tso after the final out in the state championship game. “We played as a team, played united and like the new Planet of the Apes movie, ‘Flagstaff All-Stars together strong.’ We didn’t give up. We backed each other up and turned our pants pockets outward when it was time to rally. We practiced our butts off. We practiced almost every day for three hours. Sometimes on weekends we would have two-a-day practices.”

Tso, a fifth grader at Killip Elementary School in Flagstaff, said before or after regular practices, she would work on her pitching with her dad, Dino Tso.

“Thanks to my No. 1 coach, my dad and to all my all-star coaches for preparing me for the state tournament,” she said.

The state tournament featured 13 district champions in the 8-to-10-year-old division from throughout the state of Arizona. District 2 champion Avondale Little League was the tournament host. Games were played at Festival Field and the state championship was played at Friendship Park.