The Willcox All Stars became the 2024 Little League Softball West Champions on Friday, July 26th, following sweeping victories in the West Region Tournament over teams from California, Nevada, and even as far as Honolulu. The underdog team from Willcox was set to travel to Greenville, North Carolina to play in the Softball Little League World Series for the first time in the history of the club. They’re also only the fifth team from Southern Arizona to ever make it to the World Series.
The community, and a lot of Arizona, has rallied behind the team holding a community fundraising event, hoping to raise the cash for all the players and their parents to make the once-in-a-lifetime trip out to play in the biggest games of little league.
Thanks to the fundraising efforts from the local community, including a donation from Pattern, the All Stars made it out to the World Series, where they immediately won their first game over Mid-Atlantic from Pennsylvania. The All Stars’ pitcher, Hattie Macomber, struck out a Little League Softball World Series-record 15 batters in that game.
Even one of the pitchers for the University of Arizona softball team sent the team and Macomber encouraging messages during the live stream of the World Series on ESPN+ and shouted out the girls’ accomplishments from afar.
Affectionately called “the little team that could,” by Tucson.com, the All Stars have gotten close to making it to the World Series before. The paper reports that Willcox won the 10U State Tournament in 2022 and the 12U tourney last year.
Here at Pattern, we want to congratulate the Willcox All Stars on an amazing World Series appearance! It’s clear that this is a group of extraordinary young athletes, and we can’t wait to see what they do next.
Follow along with the All Stars here or on the team’s Facebook page.