Submitted photo – Players from the Humboldt Smoke Fastpitch 18Us will be in action in Medford, Oregon, this weekend.

By Ray Hamill — Never underestimate the memories and lasting friendships made through playing sports.

This weekend, a group of young North Coast softball players will make the trip to Medford, Oregon, for the NorthWest Fastpitch Alliance Tournament as part of the newly formed Humboldt Smoke Fastpitch, with several of the players reuniting for the first time in four years.

Seven players on this year’s team previously played together for the Mad River MIST 14Us and made the trip to Tennessee for a national tournament right before they began high school.

And ever since then, they’ve been eager to play together again.

“They kept asking me to put the team back together,” said Smoke head coach Joe Brown, who also coached the MIST 14Us in 2022. “They really wanted to play together again.”

The squad is made up of 14 players from around the county, representing six different high schools and a pair of colleges, including college-bound players Bailey Brown from Eureka High (College of the Redwoods), Isabel Sanchez from Fortuna (College of the Redwoods) and McKennah Sargent from McKinleyville High (Santa Rosa JC).

The roster also includes the Coleman sisters, Leila and Mackenzie, from South Fork, Dailin Brown, Lola Distefano and Ella Moxon from Eureka High’s Charles Lakin Tournament championship team, Arcata’s Abby Tyner and Nallia Myer, St. Bernard’s Chezney Sundquist, McKinleyville’s Ashton Rodriguez and Fortuna’s Sephora Machado and Evalynn Little.

And while this week’s tournament will be the first of the year for the new club, the players have been practicing together for several weeks and are excited for the opportunity to play alongside each other again while representing the North Coast in tournament play.

“The girls are really gelling well,” Joe Brown added. “They’ve been working super hard at practice every single day. We’ve got a well-rounded group that is pushing each other at practice.”

Brown says the Smoke are looking to add a second team for young girls in the area in the near future and that the response from the local community and parents involved has been very good.

And that’s not all for the Humboldt Smoke.

“The community has been awesome,” Joe Brown said. “Our big goal is a little different to other teams in the area. We’re trying to bring a competitive Fastpitch tournament back to Humboldt County. We’ve got feeders out to teams in Redding and Southern Oregon and further south in the Sacramento area. 

“We’re working on hosting a tournament at Bear River on Aug. 15 and 16 so our girls can play in front of their home fans.”

The Smoke are also planning on hosting tournaments in September and October.

For now, however, they’ll focus on the big showcase tournament hosted by the Alliance Fastpitch Softball this weekend.

The Smoke girls open tournament with a pair of games on Thursday at 1:15 and 2:40 p.m., followed by two more games on Friday and at least two additional games when tournament double elimination begins on Saturday.

Submitted photo – The MIST 14Us that made the trip to Tennessee in 2022

The tournament 18U bracket includes 16 teams, all of whom are expected to provide some quality competition for the Humboldt Smoke.

And the players and coaches are looking forward to the opportunity.

“I love that they’re so coachable and work so hard together,” Joe Brown said of his players. “But the most important thing is they get along with each other. There’s no drama or problems with this group. They show up and work hard together.”

Roger Coleman and Ben Tyner are assistant coaches with the team

The Lost Coast Chaos 12Us, another local club, will also compete at the Alliance tournament.