LIVERMORE
– Pride U12 Gold traveled to Livermore on June 14-15 to compete
among 10 teams in tournament action. Pride finished again in third
place, just one win short of championship play.
LIVERMORE – Pride U12 Gold traveled to Livermore on June 14-15 to compete among 10 teams in tournament action. Pride finished again in third place, just one win short of championship play.
Saturday morning the Pride faced Vallejo Cyclone. Hurler Kelly Hillman shut the Cyclone down 1-2-3 in the first inning with help from shortstop Sara Cornaggia. ChereRae PreJean started the Pride off with a single, a sacrifice bunt by Mandy Kline moved PreJean followed by three walks from Danielle Clampett, Holly Turay and Kelly Hillman for the score. Campett would score on a fielders choice hit by second basemen Stephanie Doting. The Pride took the lead and never looked back.
Base hits from second basemen C.J. Wrye and catcher Turay – along with a double from Cornaggia and Doting followed by a triple from PreJean gave the Pride 10 runs before game’s end. Strong defense from outfielders Nicole Sanchez and Clampett held the Cyclones to only five runs.
Pride faced the West Valley Slammers, with Mandy Kline making her pitching debut. Kline held the Slammers to two runs through the first two innings before the Slammer bats came around – scoring 11 runs in the third inning and taking the Pride out of the game. The Slammer pitching held the Pride to only two baserunners the entire game – on a hit by PreJean and a walk from Sanchez.
Pride came back strong Saturday afternoon against the Castro Valley Synergy. Synergy scored first in the first inning with two runs. Pride answered back in the second taking advantage of Synergy’s pitchers who struggled to find the strike zone. Turay, Hillman, Wrye, PreJean and Sanchez all walked and a hit from Doting enabled Pride to score four runs en route to a 5-3 victory.
On Sunday, the Pride were subject to single eliminatin to continue into championship play. The Pride faced the San Ramon Stompers and again patience at the plate paid off with five base-on-balls in the first inning and a double by Clampett to score five runs in the opening frame. Hillman held the Stompers to only two runs, striking out two with help from shortstop Brittany Vaughn Vandergriff and second basemen C.J. Wrye.
Semifinal play matched the Pride against the Atwater Yammers. The Yammers scored first with an unearned run from a lead-off walk. Pride answered back with a lead-off hit by Vandergriff – who went on to score and even up the game. A heads-up play by first basemen Wrye threw out a runner at home, holding the Yammers to three runs in the 2nd.
Yammer pitching outmatched the Pride on this one – striking out four batters and allowing only two hits. Despite good defensive play from outfielders Maureen King and PreJean, the Pride settled for third place in back-to-back tournaments. Pride will travel to San Ramon this weekend in the hopes of of championship play and to sharpen their skills for the National Qualifier on June 28-29.
