What began with great promise Sunday soon turned to disappointment for two Cape Coral all-star Little League teams playing for State Championships.

For the Cape Little League (11-12 year-old) softball team, everything went wrong from the start of their game against Lake Wales in Port St. Lucie. Cape’s unbeaten run to the state title game came to an end with a 10-0 defeat.

“It did not go as we hoped,” said Cape manager Scott Peterson. “They were a good team, but we didn’t get too many baserunners. Everything we hit was right at them and everything they hit was were we weren’t.”

Lake Wales collected 10 runs on seven hits while drawing seven walks and taking advantage of three Cape errors and three batters hit by pitches.

“In the first couple of innings we had runners on base and had opportunities to score,” said Peterson. “Then we hit line drives and ground balls right at defenders. Once we fell behind we kind of lost our enthusiasm.”

Krista Scuilla had two of Cape’s four hits with McKenzie Peterson and Gilian Takais each contributing one hit.

“This is a great group of kids who have nothing to be ashamed of,” said Peterson. “Once the initial shock of losing the title had worn off, the girls realized they had a good run and calmed down a bit. They worked hard and gave up most of their summer to do this and to finish as the second-best team in Florida was a good experience and very good for them.”

Cape American’s 9-10 year-old all-star team was in good shape with a 1-0 lead until the third inning when Plant City scored two unearned runs against starting pitcher Tony Rios en route to a 7-2 victory at Pinellas Park.

“(Plant City) played a very good defensive game and we did not,” said Cape manager Derek Hoines. “We made several errors, which is uncharacteristic for this team. You can’t do that against a good team.”

After plating one run in the first inning and leaving the bases loaded with one out in the third without scoring, Cape American fell behind 4-1 by the fifth inning. A sacrifice fly by Levi Shuck closed the gap to 4-2, but Plant City struck for three insurance runs in the sixth to seal the win.

“It was quite an accomplishment for us to get here with more than 100 teams who started the tournament,” said Hoines. “We enjoyed the experience and knew from the start that we had a good bunch of kids. We just ran into a better team. We had opportunities, but did not cash in with a big inning. Still, I’m very proud of the boys.”

In the Junior Baseball Section 6 Tournament at Fleishman Park, Hancock claimed the championship with an undefeated run through three opponents Saturday and Sunday.

Hancock shut out Lehigh 7-0 in the rain-delayed opening game Saturday followed by a 13-3 triumph over Greater Naples.

Hancock beat North Port 12-1 in the final game to win the championship as the only unbeaten team. Hancock advances to the State Tournament starting Friday in DeLand.