With Lily Soda providing the pop and Alayna Wallace and Brooklyn Mauel providing the pitching, the Timber Rattlers defeated Play It Again Sports 10-6 on Kratzer Field at USA Youth Sports Complex to win the Appleton Little League Major Softball city championship June 24.
Soda tripled in a run and scored on a wild pitch in the first inning, hit a two-out, two-run home run in the third inning and tripled in a run and scored in a five-run sixth inning to key the offense.
Soda, who was hanging on to the championship trophy, said winning the title was a pretty good feeling.
“At first it was hard meeting the new people and getting to know them,” she said. “But toward the end when we would have wins and stuff, it was fun. It was like a team celebrating. It was a good year with everyone.”
Wallace, meanwhile, allowed one run over the first three innings and then came back to close out the game.
Wallace, who was sidelined by an injury until about four weeks ago, said it was challenging sitting on the sideline.
“I knew my team would have my back,” she said. “I knew I would be able to help the team do the best they could.”
And when Wallace was finally able to return to the mound, what was that like?
“It all came right back,” she said. “I’m very used to pitching. It was kind of normal.”
Timber Rattlers manager Sarah Guido said it has been a fantastic season.
“We started off battling some injuries,” she said. “We had girls working through it. We had girls who needed to step up, learn new positions and support the team together. Then we went on a winning streak and at the end just had it clicking together.”
Guido talked about how eager her players were to tackle the challenge of learning new positions.
“Each girl came with a really great attitude and a willingness to learn and try,” Guido said. “They put in the effort and the time. We had a whole team of support.”
Coaching these girls was a lot of fun for Guido.
“This has been a fantastic group of girls,” she said. “The energy and the positivity that they bring every day and they’re willing to learn and try hard has been a great joy and an easy way to coach.”
Soda found it enjoyable as she and her teammates progressed over the course of the season.
“It was amazing like watching some of the batters who wouldn’t get hits at the start of the year started hitting bombs at the end,” she said. “It was great to watch.”
Wallace said she enjoyed watching the team grow together as the season rolled along.
“It was great watching us fight together as a team, not as individuals,” she said. “Everyone was able to shift to where they needed to be which was best for the team. I’m just proud we were able to overcome things like changing and learning new positions.”
On the other side of the diamond, Play It Again Sports manager Todd McMahon knew his team, which won the city championship in 2025, would have its hands full against the Timber Rattlers.
“We had like six girls back from last year’s team, so we were pegged as kind of one of the favorites but all along I knew the Timber Rattlers were going to be one of the favorites this year,” McMahon said.
McMahon said it was a lot of fun watching his squad progress over the course of the season and make its way to the championship game.
“It was a fun season with six returning girls and five new girls and they really came along,” McMahon said. “Madison Meyer, our leadoff batter, is only 10 years old. To see these kids come along, we knew we’d be a good team but we always knew that the Timber Rattlers were going to be the team to beat and they showed it.”
It was also enjoyable for McMahon to watch the Play It Again Sports team steadily improve in the fundamentals of the game.
“That’s what it’s all about,” he said. “The hitting was always there. We’ve got really good hitters. We’ve got five all-stars going forward now.
“I’m so proud of these girls with the injuries they went through. How resilient they were and to see them fight that last inning. We’re definitely proud. Second place? We’ll take it.”
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Timber Rattlers secure Appleton Little League city softball championship
Reporting by Jim Oskola, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jim Oskola, Appleton Post-Crescent | USA TODAY Network
