The Claremont Fastpitch 14-and-Under all-stars were not able to build on last year’s 4th place finish in last week’s Western Nationals in Spokane, Washington.

Claremont won once out of 4 games in the double elimination tournament, bringing an end to the most successful season for Claremont Fastpitch in 2011.

“We competed,” said Claremont 14U coach Kevin Keirns. “In one game, we went into international tie-breaker rules and kept it close. We didn’t quite get the victory though and we went flat at times. But overall, it was a good experience for the girls,”

The Claremont all-star squad first began to hit its stride in June. Madison Crisanto, Alexis Gastelum, Megan Gaston, Roe Keirns, Emily McCord, Katrina Merrick, Madison Metzer, Lyndsay Raczok, Samantha Rees, Katie Serabyn, Jelani Singleton and Niki Soto made up Claremont’s 2011 14U roster.

The 14U team placed 2nd in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Tournament and then went on to win the Rancho Cucmaonga ACE Tournament. By advancing to the semi-finals of the district tournament, the group qualified for the state championships.

The 14U all-stars won 3 of its 5 games at the California state tournament in early July to become the only Claremont Fastpitch team to qualify for the Western Nationals. Arcadia, La Verne and Temple City were the other 3 teams within Los Angeles County to qualify.

—Landus Rigsby