by Kevin Wells Channel 2 Sports KTUU

9:01 p.m. AKST, December 27, 2012
ANCHORAGE, Alaska—

After qualifying teams to World Series championship tournaments in both 2009 and 2011, Nunaka Valley Little League of Anchorage broke through on the big stage in 2012.  They claimed the title of the Junior League Softball World Series for 12 to 14 year olds, becoming the first Alaskan baseball or softball team to reach such heights.  Following a victory in the state tournament, Nunaka Valley went undefeated in the west regional against teams from states with much larger population bases.  The Alaskans made the World Series behind strong hitting by the likes of Taria Page, Felila Manu, Leilani Blair, and Morgan Hill, and pitching from Lauren Syrup and Hannah Peterson.  The team had finished 6th in the World Series tournament in 2011, so the girls had plenty of knowledge about what it took to prevail at such a global level.  In the World Series, the Alaskans faced teams from Texas, Connecticut, Puerto Rico, The Czech Republic, and Kirkland, Washington, dropping only one game to set up a championship game appearance against a squad from Victoria, British Columbia.  The Anchorage team took down the Canadians, 6-2 to become World Series champions.  It was a moment none of the young ladies will ever forget, and a victory that gave Alaska a permanent place in the record books in a sport that's played all over the world.