Coached by Sharon Niehoff, Barry DesRochers and Larry Gamble,
the girls improved each tournament this summer, culminating in a
fourth-place finish at last weekend’s Watsonville Tournament to end
the season
WATSONVILLE — Spirit of Morgan Hill’s 10-and-under ‘C’ softball team was hard pressed to win many games in its first competitive season. Clearly, the players thought otherwise.
Coached by Sharon Niehoff, Barry DesRochers and Larry Gamble, the girls improved each tournament this summer, culminating in a fourth-place finish at last weekend’s Watsonville Tournament to end the season. Spirit was lifted with tremendous pitching by Serena Cuasor, who worked with a rotation of catchers headed by Kelly DesRochers.
Spirit opened the tournament with a 6-3 victory over the Pajaro Valley Tremblers. Sarah Machado, who ended the tournament with a .750 on-base percentage, scored three runs for Spirit, and Madi Weeks added two runs with impressive baserunning.
The game tightened up in the bottom of the fourth inning, but Spirit’s Joie Niehoff ended a rally when she gloved a sharp hit at third base and made a perfect throw to first.
After two games against Pajaro Valley and the Sunnyvale Shockers, Spirit qualified to play in the championship bracket Sunday. Spirit was pitted against two of the best teams in Northern California, the West Valley Slammers and the Livermore Smoke.
The Spirit girls didn’t play like they were overmatched. Kylie Weeks provided a triple against West Valley, and Aubry Ayers continued her solid play in center field. Alex Stycznski dominated at shortstop, and Julianna Camacho and Danielle Temperino contributed hits and runs for Spirit to keep the close, but the Slammers prevailed.
Spirit shared its success from the tournament with teammates who couldn’t be there, including Tori Costello, Pilar Pennix and Grace Beltramo. The team’s inaugural season was a promising success. The girls who played competitive softball for the 8-and-under team, the two 10-and-under teams and the two 12-and-under clubs had enjoyable summers as well.
