Panther's Qualify For Nationals!!!

This weekend Paityn was in Kent Washington with her teammates for their first National Qualifier Tournament.

Saturday we had a “first round bye”. The girls first game was at 10:30 AM against Coeur d’Alene Crush and we beat them 7-5. The second game was at 4:30 PM against NW Blaze and we beat them 6-1. The girls had a “team meeting” after the game and then the tournament Director came up and asked if they would be interested in taking their National Birth?

The coaches took the birth!!!!

The girls played great and deserve to secure their place at National’s this year.

Not VGSA, Newberg Instead....

There ended up being a mix-up in the paperwork and instead of playing in Vancouver, we were in Newberg.

Not a bad deal for the Willoughby family…

We started our weekend off on Saturday in Wilsonville at Wilsonville High School. We played Lincoln City Hurricanes and then Sweet Home. Both games were pretty much just warm-up games. Sunday the team was in Newberg at the Crater Fields (a block away from our home) and the girls played 3 games. Panthers ended up placing 2nd at the 14 level.



Next week is the first National Qualifier in Kent Washington….

GOOD LUCK GIRLS!!!!

Maddux Riding A Bike!!!

Saturday Maddux went to Tracy's (Paityn's hitting instructor and close family friend) home for the afternoon.

We were all in Sherwood for Paityn’s softball games and Tracy asked if Maddux could go home with her and her boys. They have a lot of fun together. Later in the day, Tracy took the boys outside to ride bikes and captured this cute video so I wanted to share with you all….

Not Thier Best In Sherwood...

Unfortunately the Oregon Panther’s took 3rd place this last weekend in Sherwood.

There were 3 really strong teams including….NW Thunder (FROM Eugene), NW Blaze (from Beaverton), and us. Between these three teams the tournament could have ended up any way, it just happened to be NW Thunder’s day this weekend.

12A State should be very interesting this year. I can’t wait to watch!!!!

Action Shots of Paityn

Panther Tournament Schedule

June 12 - 13
12A Sherwood Invite Sherwood, OR
June 19 - 20
14A VGSA Vancouver, WA
June 25 - 27
12A National QAualifier Seattle, WA
July 2 - 4
12A National Qualifier Redding, CA
July 9 - 11
12A State Salem, OR
July 16 - 18
12A Regional Springfield, OR
July 22 - 25
12A or 14A NAFA Summer Nationals Newberg, OR
July 31 - Aug 8
12A USA - ASA Nationals Bloomington, IN

Above are the remaining tournaments that Paityn will be attending in with the Panthers. As you see there are many tournaments that she will need to travel to, especially to nationals back in Indiana. If anyone would like to help support her in her new adventures please let me know. We will gladly take and appreciate any help.

Presidential Award for Paityn!!!

I received a phone call from the Counselor at Paityn’s school last Friday and she mentioned to me that Paityn would be receiving the Presidential Award for Achievement.

I wasn’t actually sure what that was, so she went on telling me about why Paityn was voted on by all the teacher’s in the 5th grade to receive this award. She told me that Paityn is a very kind and well mannered girl. She is willing to help out wherever she can and is not afraid to help others. She is always trying her best and never gives up.

I will add a video soon….

We have a very special girl on our hands!!!!! We love you and are so very proud of you “baby girl”. You work very hard at everything you do and it shows!!!

Panthers go 2-1 in shortened 14U Hillsboro Invite

The Panthers traveled to Hillsboro stadium on Saturday to play in another 14U tourney. With the high school softball season over, the competition was expected to be much stiffer than previous tourneys, as the older 14's come back to their ASA teams. Mother nature pounded the rain onto NW Oregon all week long, but stopped on Friday afternoon just in time to get things dried out for an on-time start Saturday morning.

The Panthers opened up with the Gresham Eliminators 14U. As has been the recipe all year, the ladies mixed good pitching, defense, and hitting into a 5-1 win. Next up with the Tsunami 14U. The Panthers came out on fire, scoring 5 runs in the first inning, then kept the hammer down, resulting in a 11-1 win. Next up was the Scorpions 14U. The girls came out clicking with a 4-1 lead after 2, then for the first time all year the defensive wheels came off, with uncharacteristic errors, resulting in a 7-5 loss. This placed the Panthers in the Silver bracket.
Then Mother Nature came back again with heavy rain overnight, washing out Sunday's games.

Paityn Goes Pink!!!

This last week was a very difficult week for the Willoughby's

After last weekend with Paityn playing softball with The Oregon Panthers she was a little nervous going to practice on Tuesday with The Breeze (her team). She wasn't sure how to answer the question….What did you do last weekend? Practice ended up going fairly well and with no big issues. On the drive home she was very quiet though.

Wednesday she wanted to go the Salem and practice with The Panthers. She had actually made a call to the coach Terry. She asked if she could continue practicing with them when she could, and he said "yes". So we were on our way down South. After practice she was talking and seemed very happy.

Thursday began the tough part of the week. That is the day that Terry and Paul had spoke and asked if Paityn would like to join The Panthers team. Both Paul and I spoke to Paityn and without much hesitation…she said I want to be a Panther!!! Thursday she had a practice decision to make, both The Breeze and the Panthers had practice and we could only make one. She chose to practice in Salem. After practice Terry called both Paityn and I in to speak with us about joining the team. He just wanted to make sure that we were aware of would the commitment would be with joining The Panthers team.

This decision was up to Paityn. She was the one that would have to practice with the team, play the games, and spend much of her time with. Both Paul and I felt she is old enough to make that decision and we would be there to help guide her if needed.

Friday morning she woke up and called Terry first thing. She told him that she wanted to be a Panther and join his team. Then it was up to Paul and I to tell The Breeze that she was no longer going to be on that team. Paul wanted to take care of that himself, plus we also thought that this needed to be taken care of in person instead of over the phone and Paul was able to take care of this that morning. We also wanted to tell them since both teams would be playing in different tournaments. The Breeze would be playing in Newberg and The Panthers would be playing in Hillsboro.

Paityn is now a Panther officially!!!