The Pride of Morgan Hill 12U Green and Gold teams competed in
the Northern California
“B” and “C” Fastpitch Softball Championships last weekend at
Twin Creeks in Sunnyvale. The Pride 12U Green finished 10th out of
19 qualified teams competing in the NorCal B Championships while
the Pride 12U Gold placed fourth out of nine teams in the C
division.
The Pride of Morgan Hill 12U Green and Gold teams competed in the Northern California “B” and “C” Fastpitch Softball Championships last weekend at Twin Creeks in Sunnyvale.
The Pride 12U Green finished 10th out of 19 qualified teams competing in the NorCal B Championships while the Pride 12U Gold placed fourth out of nine teams in the C division.
The Pride Green fell short on their opening game Friday night despite superb pitching by Samantha Berajano and flawless defense by Priscilla Orona, Sarah Bernardini, Nikita Patel, Didi Lopez, Alyssa Vukcevich and Kayla Cisneroz.
On Saturday morning, Pride Green bounced back with an exciting win that took them to an international tiebreaker and a come-from-behind 9-7 victory to keep their championship hopes alive.
The offense was led by the hitting of Cat Molnar, Katie Machado and Jacey Turay. Vivianna Rocha came through with the key hit in the seventh inning to tie the game and force it into extra innings.
And, Nikita Patel drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.
Katie Machado made a diving catch at first base to maintain the lead for the Pride in the final inning.
Great pitching by both Bejarano and Brianna Anglikowkski put Pride in the position to win.
After the dramatic victory Pride Green was forced to play back-to-back against the San Carlos Force and came up short to end their championship run and quest for a berth in the National Championships in Washington state.
Meanwhile, the 12U Pride Gold finished fourth in the C championship bracket, barely losing the final guaranteed berth for the California State Junior Olympic Games in San Diego.
The Pride Gold started fast with a 3-2 win Friday night, led by the pitching of Kelly Henningsen. The offense was paced by key hits from Jennifer Hinman, Erin Leggett and Annika Camacho.
On Saturday, the Pride Gold fell to the eventual champion Palo Alto Heat despite the outstanding defensive and offensive efforts of Nestley Combs, Andrea Salem, Shante Cerniglia, Allison Stoner, Yessi Ceja and Kelly Lima.
On Sunday, the Gold had to win back-to-back games to secure a California State Junior Olympics berth.
The Gold won the first game by overcoming a 3-0 deficit in the fifth inning to win 4-3.
Chelsea Tamura had a key hit and Erin Leggett had two timely triples.
Leggett led the team in hitting, approaching an .800 batting average in the tournament.
The Gold eventually lost to the Burlingame Flames, whom they had previously beaten Friday night.
Nestley Combs was the bright spot for the Gold in this game with her outstanding work behind the plate and at third base.
