Girls Softball tournament update
Morgan Hill June 10-11
I made a decision early this year not to take on the responsibility of being tournament coach like I had the previous 2 years, partly because I wanted Natalie to make it on her own merits, which I’m very happy to say, she did. The other part is the time commitment in organizing practices, hauling equipment around and dealing with the endless details of who to start, assigning positions to the girls and keeping the parents happy and involved. But when our team’s assistant informed the head coach that she couldn’t make it to Morgan Hill this past weekend, I was asked to assist as first base coach and hand over my scorekeeping duties to another parent. We have a great group of kids, and I’ve coached all but one of them in past tournament seasons, so it was easy to agree and I accepted the offer, even if it’s temporary.
Saturday we went 1 and 2, opened with a win, dropped a close one to an average team, then lost 7-3 to what were probably the eventual tournament champs (yet to confirm, we left while the championship game was being played Sunday). Play on Saturday determines how teams are seeded Sunday in championship play. We were seeded #3, based on WL record and run differential.
Sunday morning we battled back from a deficit against a San Jose team, #2 seed in their bracket. In our last at bat, Natalie was called in to pinch hit, specifically to drop down a bunt to try to push across the winning run from third. A gutsy call had her bunting with 2 strikes and she laid down a beauty, but the defense played it to stop the run at the plate. Our runner alertly played it smart and didn’t run into an out at home, Nat safe at first. We load the bases, but a ground ball produces a force out at home, two outs. Another ground ball to short, a play at the plate, but the catcher can’t handle the throw, Natalie crosses with the winning run. Bedlam. Shrieking 12 year olds mobbing the field. Group hug.
Our second game on Sunday was against Pleasanton, traditionally very strong. They were seeded #1 in their bracket and seemed kind of shell shocked that we had jumped out to a 4-0 advantage. They tie it in their last at bat, but we’re home team. A base hit and a steal put the winning run on second, but we’re having trouble getting her home. With two out, our batter delivers a crisp single to right and the winning run streaks around the bases. Bedlam. Shrieking 12 year olds mobbing the field. Group hug.
Third game Sunday against Almaden. We’re a little shaky to start things off, we had virtually no rest between the previous game and this one. Some sloppy defense results in our being down 6-1. Natalie relieves our starter and throws 3 solid no-hit, no-run innings, the shut down we needed. We’re scratching back and in our last at bat we trail 6-4. All of a sudden we’re feeling the momentum turning our way. We punch a couple of hits through, score a run and load the bases. But their defense was sharp, they got the third out of a close play at first to finish. Heads held high. Proud of our girls. Group hug.
First tournament, 3 wins, 3 losses. After fracturing her wrist and missing 6 weeks of the regular season, our little pitcher is looking pretty good. San Ramon next weekend, followed by an overnighter in Morro Bay.