As early as last July, Midway coach Tommy Coskrey and his staff had a keen eye trained on the 2011 Little League Softball World Series.

In the summer of 2010, Coskrey gathered a group of talented select softball players from the area and began playing 12-and-under tournaments. Beginning in August, the team played in eight tournaments and won six of them.

When they came back in the spring, they won a few more before stepping up to 14-and-under tournaments, placing second and first in their last two. When June 15 rolled around this summer and the time came for all-star teams to be picked for the upcoming Little League World Series cycle, Coskrey hit the jackpot.

Midway players run through pre-practice drills in preparation for the Little League Softball World Series.
Duane A. Laverty / Waco Tribune-Herald

All 12 of his select team players within the Midway ISD boundaries were put on the all-star team.

That’s the kind of cohesiveness and experience with which Midway enters the Little League Softball World Series today in Portland, Ore. Midway, which represents the Southwest after handily winning the regional last week, takes on Central Illinois today at 10 p.m. for its first of four pool games.

While most of these World Series teams met each other in full for the first time June 15 this year when their respective committees put them together, Midway’s entire roster has already put in a year’s worth of work as a group.

“They’re battle-tested,” Coskrey said. “They’ve played in probably over 17 tournaments in the last year in select.”

Early success

When this particular crew came together this summer, the focus was evident from the jump. With the exception of a 7-2 win over Lake Air in the district tournament and a 5-2 win over Lubbock in the state championship game, Midway posted four-inning run rule routs in every one of its qualifying games.

Through all three levels — district, state and regional — Midway outscored opponents an astronomical 153-10 in 11 games.

Backed by an airtight defense, pitcher Chandlar Coskrey has been masterful in not allowing more than three runs in a single game. Meanwhile, Midway’s marauding offense has pounded out at least 17 runs five times.

“We all bond with each other outside of practice and inside of practice,” catcher Michelle Olvera said. “We’re not a team that fights a lot. We’re all really good friends. We just go out there and we have good communication.”

Midway has a lofty past to live up to. Midway Little League softball teams have won 11 World Series titles, more than any other program in the world. But tough times in recent years has stymied that success, leaving Midway without an appearance since 2008 and without a title since 2004.

Keeping tradition going

The championship signs at Midway’s practice field stretch around to both dugouts with names from the past who’ve defined success at the most successful place on earth for Little League softball. Getting back to that pinnacle is the primary goal.

“Some of those girls have babies now, some of those girls are in college,” Coskrey said. “There’s a big history here with this league . . . These girls, they really want to get there.”

New experiences will be around every corner this week, and not just from the standpoint that all 12 players are making their initial voyage to the World Series. Four girls stepped on a plane for the first time Tuesday morning. Four more had never been out of the state.

The chance to put their names next to some of the all-time greats from Midway’s past was more than enough to overcome those jitters.

“I’m just glad to be a part of that World Series tradition,” Olvera said. “I want my name on that board like everybody else.”

wparchman@wacotrib.com

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