By Charles Whisnand
Appeal Sports Editor
Carson City will not just be the state capital in a little over a week from now, it will be one of the softball capitals of the world " at least one of the softball capitals of the Western United States.
Carson City is serving as host of the National Softball Association Western World Series. The event will be held July 12-20 in Carson, Gardnerville, Reno and Sparks. The 12 and under and 14 and under divisions will be held at six fields at Centennial Park and Edmonds Field's four fields here in Carson, the 10 and under division will be held at Gardnerville's Lampe and Stodick Parks and the 16 and under and 18 and under divisions will be held at Reno's Rancho San Rafael Park and Sparks' new state-of-the-art Golden Eagle Regional Park and Sports Complex. The championship rounds for all the divisions will be held in Carson.
It's anticipated that 200-230 teams from Arizona, all over California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada will participate in the event. About 30 Northern Nevada teams will play in the tournament.
Joel Dunn will wear several hats for the tournament. He'll be involved as Carson City's Recreation Manager and will also be involved as the coach of the Carson Sharks' 16 and under team, which hopes to contend for the NSA Western World Series title.
Dunn said he economic impact for Carson City alone from the event is expected to range from $4 million to $5 million. An added attraction is the Carson-Reno-Tahoe area.
"I think that the attendanced will be pretty high," Dunn said. "We've got every niche with our community to have a successful tournament. We want to retain the tournament and continue to bring some tournaments into Carson City with the same magnitude."
Dunn's father, Jim Dunn, the Nevada NSA state director, approached NSA officials at last year's NSA Western World Series in Stockton, Calif., about bringing the event to Carson. A big drawing card was the local organizations of the Northern Sierra Fast Pitch Association of the NSA operating the tournament.
So the Northern Sierra Fast Pitch Associations from Fernley, Elko, Winnemucca, Yerington, Susanville, Calif., Carson, Reno, Sparks and Douglas have all banded together to operate the event. In the associations there are 250 NSA teams in Northern Nevada. "We will have more than enough volunteers," Dunn said.
At last year's NSA Western World Series in Stockton, Dunn's Sharks team placed fifth in the 14 and under division as 13-year-olds. Since 15-year-old K.C. Withrow has joined the team, the club has moved up to the 16 and under division, so it's impressive that the team has been so successful against older players.
"Based on what we've been doing in all of our tournaments I would be disappointed with anything by a top four finish," Dunn said. "I wouldn't be surprised to win the tournament.
"We've played up throughout the whole year and we've had overwhelming success. There hasn't been a team that we've played we can't beat. The games that we've lost we could have won."
The Sharks 16 and under team warmed up for the Western World Series by going 4-0 to win the NSA State title last weekend in Gardnerville. Morgan Kleine went 8-for-9 (.889) with seven stolen bases, K.C. Withrow hit .750, Elayna Shine hit .625, Emily Collins, Lisa Yamamoto and Maddi Saarem all hit .500, Taylor-Rae Canfield hit .444 and Breann Perry hit .400 in the event.
Lindsey Ashbaugh and Megan Barrette combined to hold opponents to a .143 average while the Sharks hit .500 as a team. In three games, Ashbaugh struck out 11, walked one and allowed four hits. In one game, Barrette allowed three hits and walked none.
"I'm really glad it's here," said Shine about the Western World Series. "I think we can win the whole thing."
Kleine said the team has really bonded together. "This team was meant to be together and we play hard and we work together," she said.
Withrow said she's looking forward to the event's tougher competition. "On a scale from 1 to 10, probably about 8 or 9," said Withrow on how tough the competition will be.
Among other local teams who should finish high in the event, Dunn said, are the Cason Valley Hot Shots 14 and under team and the Red Storm 18 and under team based in Douglas.