The Zootown All-Stars have made it back … again. The Little League girls' softball team is, for the third year in a row, returning to the World Series in Delaware, starting this Sunday.
The team is made up mostly of thirteen-year-olds from the Missoula area. They beat the Hawaiian team last Tuesday night in a regional tournament in Missoula.
Kevin Miltko is President of the Garden City Softball Little League.
"This what it’s all about in the community, is to have special things happen with young people that work hard, practice, aim for a goal, and sometimes they get lucky and they achieve it."
The team won the tournament last year and is hoping to make it two championships in a row.
It’s the first time that a team has made it to the finals three years in a row, in softball or baseball, boys' or girls'.
On Tuesday the girls took to the streets in Missoula, fundraising for their much-anticipated trip during the Out to Lunch event at Caras Park.
League President Kevin Miltko is a former manager of the team, and understands the work the girls put in.
"It’s been a big deal. The city of Missoula has embraced the two previous teams that have gone to the World Series. And this year, a really young team, a group of thirteen-year-olds -- not the veteran teams that we've had the past two years. So this is kind of special to have young kids like this."
The league pays for most of the team’s tournament expenses, but the girls have to raise their own money for meals and incidentals.
10,000 teams from all over the world participate in the softball league, culminating in a ten-team tournament in Delaware this weekend.
The team is also soliciting donations from the Garden City Softball Little League Facebook page.