BISMARCK —  The softball players from California didn’t win the championship, but they’re No. 1 in the heart of a 7-year-old Bismarck girl.

The young players brought some sunshine into Arynn Botkin’s days while she was undergoing radiation treatment for a brain tumor in Bloomington, Ind., in August.

Weeks later, Arynn’s grandparents — Dale and May Rice of Rossville — are still raving about the athletes’ thoughtfulness.

“What’s very touching for us, the family, is that they showed Arynn so much kindness and love,” Dale said.

The softball players dedicated their games to her, spent time making jewelry with her and gave her a T-shirt signed by all of the players.

In April, a nurse at Bismarck Elementary School noticed the child was having vision problems. An MRI revealed a non-malignant type of brain tumor called craniopharyngioma, which was affecting her vision in one eye and causing headaches.

There were too many risks with surgery, so in mid-July, she began a six-week radiation treatment at the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute in Bloomington.

Her last treatment was Aug. 27.

Family members — including her grandparents; aunt, Rochelle Edwards; and sister, Rilynn Botkin, 9 — stayed with her at different times at a Hampton Inn. Arynn’s parents are Ryan Botkin of Bismarck and Amber Botkin of Rossville.

Also staying at the Hampton Inn were 13 members of a softball team called the Bomb Squad 97 from Anaheim, Calif. Those 12-year-old girls were competing in the Amateur Softball Association Nationals, played the first week of August.

The friendship between the child and the team started with a casual conversation between Dale and one of the player’s parents in the hotel lobby. Dale told Adam Kock-McNeil and Anna Garcia that Arynn wasn’t on a softball team, that she was undergoing radiation treatment.

Little did Rice know that Kock-McNeil and Garcia would tell the softball players and that a bit of small talk would snowball.

The Bomb Squad adopted Arynn as their honorary teammate, made up cheers for her and even dedicated a game to her.

They said she was their inspiration. One day in the lobby, they spent a couple of hours making bracelets and jewelry with Arynn.

Kock-McNeil and Garcia even bought tickets so Arynn’s family could watch a game. The girls gave her a T-shirt signed by all the players, and a couple of pins.

“They didn’t win the championship,” Dale said, “However, they are the champions in our hearts.”

The Bomb Squad finished 17th out of the 101 teams.

Also, the hotel threw Arynn a birthday party when she turned 7 on Aug. 23.

May said, “I look at it as a blessing. Now she has a bigger family coming together.”

Last Monday, Aug. 30, was Arynn’s first day back to school. She’s been wearing a variety of hats to cover the part of her head shaved for the treatments. To welcome her back, her first-grade classmates all wore hats, too, and the school is doing a Make a Wish for Arynn activity.

Quaker Oats, where Dale works, donated $500.

“This community has been good to her,” Edwards said.

May said, “Receiving help is humbling. It’s easier for us to give.”

Arynn will return to the center every two months for the next two years to keep watch on the tumor. She’s lost sight in the right eye and has lost peripheral vision in the left.

She has a shunt to draw fluid from the tumor, and the family hopes it keeps shrinking. She will have an MRI in six weeks to see if there’s any change.

While the medical expenses are under control right now, the Rices said they’re not sure about the future.

“We don’t know what she’ll need in the future,” May said. “Miracles happen.”